The wait is over........I am back!

Sorry for the lack of posting. I figure that if I can't take the time to put up a good post...why even try. So, after a long break I am ready to post again. Thanks for hanging in there.

First, thank you to all that gave me support and encouragement in the Chequamegon prep. What a great time with friends I had. Thank you folks for the birthday card. It meant a lot especially due to me being away from my lovely wife and two little girls. Thanks!

The race. Wow! What a race. I may have only done the short and fat but what a hoot it was. My best time and placing yet to boot. 1 hour 2 min and some changte. That put me in 43 place out of 858 (I think). 8th in my division out of maybe 74. Sweet! The rest of my racing clan did a little better.

The bike.....Salsa Mamasita. Wonderful! Flawless! Perfect! And oh so fast, lively and quick. Not me, the bike. 29ers rock! Nuf said.

Thank you all that attended the festival for a great time. I can't make it back next year and maybe not the year after but I will be back, someday.

Okay. Back to the bike. I received a comment from this fella who I have inspired. I do not think I have ever inspired anyone before. This is cool. Here is what was written.

mark dunn said...
Captain Bob,RE: Mamasita sizingYou have inspired me to pick one of these up. The question is which size as per the Salsa spec chart - they have the small-Medium and medium-large thing going. Also what length stem are you running?I am 5.8 1/2" tall with 31 1/2 inseam with no shoes. Your thoughts on sizing will be appreciated also taking into considering the 29 wheels as well. I usually run a 18" fram with a 23" top tube and a 120MM stem in good old 26" size wheelsThanks

My response: Here is the sizing chart taken directly off of Salsa's website. Scroll to the bottom of the page. My size is the medium. I am 5'11" and my inseam is around 33in. That is my pants length. It's a near perfect fit for me but it took some tweaking as I am on the tall end of the bike. Which means a size large would probably fit me better. I am running a 110mm stem but did run a 100mm for a while. It was a bit cramped with the 100mm but the bike steered better. A large for me with a 90mm stem would be perfect. One thing you will notice with 29ers is you will want to run a shorter stem than with a 26er. I think. I was riding a smaller than normal 18in frame in a 26er and did also run a 120mm stem. The medium Mamasita with a 100mm stem steered better than my 26er with the longer stem. I think the medium would be a perfect fit for you Mark. I would bet a 90mm (0 degree or -3 or -6 degree) would be perfect for you. I also had to swap out my Thompson seatpost for something with more layback. The Salsa Shaft seatpost works perfect for me and is much stiffer than the Thompson. Your size would be great with the normal seatpost though.

Do you live anywhere near Waterloo/Cedar Falls Iowa? You are welcome to ride mine. You will be delighted with the ride. It feels alive underneath you man!

Thanks for reaching out to me for info. Good luck in your decision and feel free to keep in touch.

Have a good night folks.

Captain!

getting ready for Chequamegon! almost there.

All I need now is some good ole hill climbing workouts. It's high time I get over the the gravel roads by the Scout Camp and at least one day a week I need to hit the hills around New Hartford.

Here's a few pics for you. You will count five of my favorite things in one pic alone. Let's name them. First is the frame. Salsa Mamasita 29er. So sweet! 2nd, my Ergon E1 grips. Perfect for me. 3rd, Salsa stem. Steel is real baby! I also love the 11 degree bend on those handlebars. Feels just right. 4th, 8 speed! Enough said. 5th, Shimano brake levers, just perfect. 6th, not mine but, the wheelset and tires I am testing for twenty nine inches. So far, so good.

That's all for now.

Been busy lately

Been getting in some pretty good rides lately. Getting ready for Chequamegon. Took a little time to do some shopping yesterday with the wife and youngest child. The older one was as a party. This picture was taken just minutes after she threw a fit for not getting a stuffed kitty from the last store we took her to for the day. Notice one of the business names in the background......how fitting especially given the mood she was in.

A little mtb sprint for tonight.

Thankfully I missed the rain.

Cedar Bend

Well. Let's just say it was good to get out and ride. I have been riding a bit, working a lot. Been doing a few senior photo jobs so that has been taking up my blogging time. I went to Cedar Bend Wed night and I must say what a mess. The storm that ripped through the area that morning hit the park pretty hard. Tons of large trees down. Many of them over the trail. I made a huge effort to make it out for an off-road ride for a couple of reasons. I am on a special assignment testing some high end bike schtuff and really needed this terrain to get a feel for the product. Stay tuned to twenty nine inches for a post soon on what I am testing. They post some pretty cool stuff there, especially if you like 29er stuff.

I also bought a new set of pedals from Bike Tech the other day so I really needed to put some miles on them to decide if they will stay in my hands or find their to ebay. They are the Xpedo SL CR. So far the pedals are working fine. I was hoping for a little more degees of float but I think I am out of luck. The box says 15 degrees but I think I get around 6 or something. Nothing compared to the egg beaters. Egg beaters broke though. Entry and exit is good though and the little mud that I walked through did not seem to bother them at all. The thing I really love about the egg beaters is the cleat. You just bolt it to the shoe and forget about it. There is only one way to mount it with no possibility to adjust it because you don't need it. And it worked! These Xpedo's are similar to Shimano's in the respect of overall pedal design and the cleat. They are completely compatible with Shimano pedals. I like that part since egg beaters are not compatible at all. I will continue to post my comments here about the pedals. I like the price too with retail around $99 (minus the Bike Tech Team discount they were an even better deal, thanks Brent). That puts them alot cheaper than the Shimano XTR pedals and only a little less quality but still good. We'll see how they hold up though.

Tomorrow is another Senior photo day and a good hard mtb ride. Maybe I can make my way over to New Hartford Ia for some nice gravel hills.

Take care folks & ride yer bikes!

Captain

Riding a dyke is more fun that you think.

A little Sweets Marsh tonight. Beat the rain too. :-)

EcoTri

What a grand time we had at the Eco Tri. First place with cuz and Casey Dean. What a hoot! Hats off to those guys for letting me play with them. I was honored. Also, a big hats off to Rob Houlihan for a first place in the solo event. That was amazing.

You can see links to the event and pics go here.

Captain.

Man, I love sweet corn.

We have been eating a lot of sweet corn lately. My oldest daughter lost another tooth though. That is two teeth in the last 7 days from eating corn. Thankfully I still have my meat cutting skills from when I was a butcher so I am able to cut her corn off the cob without cutting myself.

Also, you will see a nice shot of a b road about two mile from my mothers house near Reinbeck. It was dry and super fast.

That's all for today.

Captain

Final Vintage photo post.

Who can guess where this shot was taken?

The year was 2000. This was also the last year that I was "sort of" fast.

The bike was a Giant Cadex (carbon fiber) rigid single speed.

Beginner Class and the placing was 3rd.

The winner gets a free water bottle from your shop of choice. Just don't let them see you take it.

Happy guessing!

Captain

Vintage post #2.

This was in 1999 I think. It was one of those National Guard MTB races at George Wyth. It's me again minus the mullet. Photo taken by the one and only Brad Meyeraan.

Vintage time folks!

Can you guess who this fine looking man is? This is the guy you don't want to let your daughter date. No, his name is not Earl.

You guessed it. It's me. It was right after I competed in my first mtb race. It was 1996 (I think) and it was at, the hat gives it away. Volga. I was riding a fancy Pacific from Toys R Us. It even had a suspension fork. Yikes! So glad it didn't break on me. I finished dead last too. There were a few that didn't finish. My greatest memory was this old guy in a poncho cheering me on about a 1/4 mile from the finish. One of my old buddies & I called him the Mountain Man. The mountain man was from the Specialized bike helmet. I think this guy even raced that day but finished way ahead of me and had time to cheer us slow folk on. Can you guess who that was? You're right! The one and only John Adamson.

It is a fond memory indeed. Thanks again for the cheer John....

Manic Monday

Well! My Monday was very busy. Too busy to post until today. Woke up around 5:30. Got the girls ready for daycare. Are breakfast & headed to town to give something back to the community. I am a member of the Tripoli Park & Recreation Board. We installed a new playground yesterday. It went up easy & we all had a great time. Some great teamwork was had.

I even had time to make it to my favorite playground before the rain. Well, mostly before the rain. It's all good.

Captain.

Come on ride the train....choo choo ride it!

8 miles of this was enough for me. Single speed with the wind we had today made for a low cadence strength training session. The middle bike wobbles left & right which makes out of the saddle climbing impossible. The buggy catches more wind than a minivan.

It's all good though as I am in need of strength. TT biking this spring helped high cadence but did nothing for my strength.

Have a nice weekend ya'll.

Captain

Lately.........

Wow! Amazing how fast time flies. Sorry for the lack of posting. I don't know what's wrong with me.

I competed in the Team Time Trial. What a blast. New found territory for me having never done a real road race. Also, never ridden 60 miles in one shot either. I know, never done 60 miles......now I have. It was great. Never had that much fun on a road bike.

Also enjoyed the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo. What a hoot. Spent some time riding some pretty nice bikes. You should all put this on your calendar next year. Great riding and fellowship with tons of folks that love to ride their bikes.

Did a couple camp rides since my last post. Even a George Wyth to Greenbelt ride with G-Ted and Striker. Good times.

Still loving the Salsa Mamasita. Finally put on a Salsa Shaft seatpost. That baby is rock solid and has some pretty cool features. Works well so gotta love that.

Also been spending a lot of time focusing on the ergonmics of the Ergon GE1 enduro grip. I just love the sweet spot. It fits the palm of my hand perfectly. They make out of the saddle climbing extra comfy. I need a single speed for these grips now.

Finished my Schwinn single speed cross bike. I know, it has riser bars. Its fun and makes for a great gravel beater. Right now it has two cogs in the rear but spacing wise I can make it a 3 geared. Obviously, you have to move the rear wheel to shift. I think a 14t, 16t, & 18t mated to the 36t front is perfect for my needs. It also might be for sale soon after I get some miles on it. Pretty light too as I'm guessing it to be around 20lbs (maybe 19lbs). Just need to swap out the wheels for the silver ones that will stay on her (pink nipples on those black rims don't cut it with the red stripes) and add the bar-end plugs & she will be finished. Oh yeah, I re-attach the head badge.

Now I will leave you with a photo dump of recent weeks.

Captain Bob.....

Fredericka ride tonight.

Still working on getting comfortable on the TT bike. Must be spending too many miles on the 29er these days. I just can' t stop riding that Salsa Mamasita. Had a little front end trouble lately. Had the front wheel trued to remove the hop that has appeared. I still have a bend fork dropout though that seems to be getting worse. It's starting to worry me. I noticed that under power I was getting the tire to rub on the inside of the carbon fork blade. Not Good! Oh yeah, and there is still the shimmy at around 20-25 mph. Then it goes away and comes back around 36-42 mph. It's worse at the higher speeds (which I can't do much of and won't again until it's fixed). I may need to look for a new fork before Sunday but my options are limited with it being a 1" threadless fork.

Oh well. ....

Captain Bob signing off.

You think your bike is big? Think again.

Got to take this sweet 36 inched wheeled monster home last week. Had to make a special delivery to the Big Wheel Ballyhoo that Twenty nine inches put on last weekend. What a blast to ride.
Been pretty busy lately so sorry about the lack of posting.
Captain.

Camp ride again.

Another day at Camp, Saturday that is. Lost a little traction on some rocks though so we wrestled a bit. I think I won though. No pic of the shoulder though but the rock missed the should bone by a mere inch. So, I have deep bruise. Could be worse.

I should have went to the Lisbon TT. Great times guys, especially Striker.

Also, here is a pic of some steel tubing? Maybe heading to Salsa so they can make some more El Mariachi's? Maybe.

Captain.

Next project......Schwinn Single Speed Mtb 26er!

Finally got around sandblasting this little angle last weekend. Now the paint has been laid. Hopefully, she will be built next weekend.

FOR SALE......sure is. How much? Not sure yet.

Captain

Cedar Bend mtb ride.

Quite possibly the only real trails that can be ridden in this area without getting muddy. There were only a couple tacky spots but the rest of these trails were dry. Amazing traction was had with these Geax tires I am trying out. I have only found one thing so far that my Salsa Mamasita 29er cannot do. It's the teeter totter picture. I didn't realize that when I bought it I would not be able to teeter totter with her. Got in about an hour of mtb'ing tonight. You would be amazed at how nice the trails are at Cedar Bend. There are stairs, steep stairs, and all of the stair climbs have a singletrack beside them for biking. There are more bridges than Madison County. All of the trails that grow grass are mowed consistantly. Just a perfect place to ride anytime. But, when everything else is wet, Cedar Bend is not. I remember Bidwell riding here last summer and in the morning there were downpours but in the afternoon the trails were rideable again. Pretty cool.

Jeff Slade.....you need to have an event here!!!!

Captain.

A little gravel tonight.

Pulled the girls around for around 12 miles of gravel tonight. Slapped on some new tires and man, they roll nice. Feel just like my old Geax Sedona's. Some of my pals called the Sedona's the smiley face tires.

This Salsa Mamasita continues to amaze me. It feels like a high end steel frame in the rear and a nice alum frame in the front. 29ers are just amazing. Those who do not ride one are really missing out.

Here is a pic of Madee & Ella. Madee it the one on the right.

Captain.