Mountain vs. Road

Yesterday at work one of my co-workers told me a story that explains one of the many reasons why I enjoy mountain biking ten fold compared to road biking. He was riding a remote road in New Boston on his road bike enjoying a mid-afternoon ride when he herd a car pull up next to him. The car was driving to close to him that he didn't have any room to movie closer to the shoulder (keep in mind there were no cars on the other side of the road nor were there any visible oncoming cars). The car then sped up and placed its rear bumper less than a foot away from his front wheel, now at this point they are headed down a hill and starting to pick up speed. Sean could hardly see he road ahead of him so he had to focus on the road directly in front of his wheel. Suddenly he hits a large pot hole in the road, flips over his handle bars and lands in the ditch in the side of the road. The car didn't even stop to see if he was alright, it just drove away. Sean was lucky that he didn't get hurt or damage his bike.

Its sad that people do these types of things, Sean wasn't bothering anyone why couldn't the people in the car drive past and do the same? When I go out mountain biking one of the things that I enjoy the most is being in the woods, no one around, no noises of the city and no worries of cars driving past and trying to run me off the road.

I can't wait for the the warm weather to come back so I can get back out on the saddle!

Mountain Biking season is over

Last post I was explaining how I busted up my rear shock, yes it is still blown and yes I still need to spend a lot of money on it. Now I have come up with the crazy idea of upgrading my bike to a 2x10 drivetrain versus the 3x9 I have on it now. The 2x10 is becoming more popular due to the wide range of gears, increased tension in the rear derailleur and decrease in overall weight. The only problem with a 2x10 upgrade is the $1100 price tag. I need to replace parts on my bike now, I need a new crankset ($300) and new brakes ($200-$450) and with those two prices added up it's worth it to get a kit in a box. The kit includes brand new brakes, crank, bottom bracket, shifters, derailleurs front and rear, chain, cassette and new cables and housing. I would basically have a brand new bike that I love (emotional attachment, she's my baby) for $1300 that includes all new drive train, brakes and rear shock. That may seem like a ridicilious amount to most people and yes it is a ton of money to spend but I'm extremely passonate about mountain biking, I race during the spring and summer and mountain biking is my top choice of sports to participate and compete in. I'm excited to get this kit on order and get it installed on my bike!

Here is a pic of my bike disassembled, look at that recently waxed frame!

Flies buzzing from my wallet...?

This past Saturday I was out trail building and riding with my friend and team mechanic Sam. We started building 2 drops, 2 jumps and one spectacular log ride. I was working on one of the drops, it was a 3 foot drop from the rock to the ground followed by a soon to be berm into a small jump at the end of the trail, the total trail length was about 25 feet. I tried my drop out twice and it was pretty gnarly.

Sam was working on another drop line, it started with a 4 foot drop then a short trail to a jump with about a 3 foot gap to the landing. After he finished it I had to try it out because he was without a bike. I tried the jump out first, the dirt was still a little wet but, it worked out. I chucked the drop with ease and needed to try it again, which I shouldn't have. I landed the drop with ease but for some strange reason the rear of my bike felt a bit funny. I looked down at my rear shock and saw a clear/yellowish bubbly fluid leaking from the value of the shock (where the air is put in). I knew right away something was wrong, I called Sam over and he seemed optimistic, he thought I just blew an air seal (less than $30 to fix).

I left my bike with Sam, he took it to the shop and diagnosed the problem. He came to the conclusion that I had blown the Nitrogen charge in the shock. The nitrogen charge give the rider the ability to control how fast or slow the shock rebounds and if the rider wants the shock open, locked out or on pro-pedal a happy medium setting intended for climbing. My shock is blown, its essentially useless, with out the nitrogen charge I'm riding on a spring, an out of control one at that.

I have three options to fix this, send my shock to Push Industries and have them rebuild it for $180 plus shipping. Order a new Fox Float rear shock for $300+ depending on what configuration I want or, order a RockShox Monarch RT3 shock for $275+ depending on the configuration.

You know what "they" say: If you want to play, you got to pay!

Looks like I learned the hard way

The Essential Gear for Mountain Biking (in my opinion)

Hey guys here is a video on the essential riding gear you will need to go mountain biking, enjoy!

Vietnam Milford, Mass Ride

Hi guys, so the other day I was reading the newest publication of single tracks magazine. Its a monthly publication of mountain biking through out New England, trail work, races and rides. Its normally a black and white publication (since its complementary) however this month they had a for page spread in color of all this trail work done by NEMBA (new england mountain bike association) in Milford, Mass in a place the call Vietnam. They peaked my interest so my friend Sam and I went down on Tuesday. 

According to the single track publication Vietnam is known for its north-shore feel, lots of jumps, drops, gaps, log rides and step-ups. After ten minutes into our ride we confirmed the north shore feel. Vietnam is filled with huge jumps, handfuls of drops, perfect berms and much more. Unfortunately Sam destroyed his front wheel after his second drop. Overall we had a decent time, we felt as though the trails were not marked out nicely and we had to do a lot of walking. We would like to go back with someone that knows the trails, with a bike that had more travel to absorb the drop and jumps and with a mind set that we're not going to sit down and pedal 10-15 miles. 

I put a video of me doing a drop out at Vietnam, it doesn't look that big but their actually was a five foot transition from top to bottom!

Change a Flat Tire

Hey guys, I have a brief tutorial on how to change a flat tire. I'm using my road bike because my mountain bike is being repaired! Let me know if you have any questions!

New Trails @ Bear Brook!

Yesterday I went to Bear Brook State Park to ride the news trails built by NEMBA. NEMBA is a mountain bike organizational that organizes trial care, rides and races (i put the link to their page at the bottom). The two new trails they built are called Little Bear Down (new) and Big Bear a down hill trail only which means one thing speed! Little Bear is known for being one of the fastest trails out at the state park however, after being ridden hundreds of times the trail is becoming extremely rooted and rutted out. The new little bear is designed to take riders away from the old little bear in hopes of it regrowing and hopefully re opening years down the road. The new little bear is not nearly as fun nor fast as the old little bear, that is why they build big bear as a downhill substitute. When I rode it you can tell it was a recently build trail, it was very soft, the lines to ride were not easy to pick not to mention the fact that it was raining out. I'm looking forward to riding it after its been dry for a couple days!

NEMBA Link