Paradox

why banshee why i will never be able to afford college if you keep coming out with such sick bikes. 29er with incredibly short seat and chain stays. doesn't get much sicker than that.

spin

well my car broke down again. now im stuck in mankato with only my 32x21 geared m.u.s.s. to get me any were. i am quickly predicting a future spinning followed by more and more spinning of the cranks.

Ass Crack of Dawn

so i have my thermodynamics final at noon thirty today. the final is covering thermochemistry and how to find air fuel ratios, fuel air ratios, anti knock index, etc, etc, based off the chemical reaction of the fuel when burned with air. its some pretty geeky shit. any way i was suppose to teach a private ski lesson this morning from 9:30-11:30 which would give me just enough time to rush home, change, and rape the shit out of my exam. so i get up at the ass crack of dawn this morning to study before i had to work, and as im getting ready to go to the hill, my boss calls me to inform me that the lesson was canceled. fuck.

Fixed Push cause Fixed Gear isnt gnarly enough.

"fixed push messenger, work down town, week days, make my own hours. its pretty cool"

wow, fucking hipsters.

30 mile bike ride, 15 degree weather, one fucking speed... no problem.

So yesterday luke an i went for an epic winter ride. this was my first one ever and it was a blast. we rode 30 miles of mixed road, gravel, paved bike path, nordic ski trail, atv trail, sidewalk, and restored prarie land. we took off from hill top mankato, and rode all the way out to the kasota prarie. it was a lot of fun, i just need to find a way to keep my feet warm. luke did the ride on his dank salsa cross bike. i manned up and rode all 30 miles on a single speed raleigh xxix.

the kasota prarie restoration is really cool and i wish i would have brought my camera along, there were some truly epic places to get some action shots. the ride in total was 3 hours and 10min, not too shabby considering i was on the onefs. after the ride, i geared up and threw down a five hour ski session over at mount kato. it was an epic day.

Winters Here

Although there's no snow on the ground, its winter once again in mankato. cold, clear, and windy is about the best way to describe it. at least the ski hills open i was able to get out both saturday and Sunday and get some turns in. i brought out the alpine skis for saturday and tele'd all day Sunday. it was alot of fun, and the snow was some of the best preseason skiing i have done in quite some time. Sadly i wont be able to ski again till well after thanksgiving, however if things go as planed ill get one last singletrack session in, out on the east cost with pinkshirt.

Stone IPA

From Stone:

"An India Pale Ale by definition is highly hopped and high in alcohol- you'll find our Stone India Pale Ale to be true to style with huge hop aroma, flavor and bitterness throughout.If your;re a hop-head like us, then you'll love our Stone India Pale Ale! Medium malt character with a heavy dose of over the top hops! Generous "dry hopping" gives this beer its abundant hop aroma and crisp flavor.

Quick Facts:

First Release Date: August 1997
Hop Variety: Magnum, and Centennial
Stats: Alc./Col. 6.9%, 77IBUs

My Take:

The Stone IPA trumps my former favorite the Bells IPA hands down, its crisp bite is followed buy an onslaught of bitterness that finishes as crisp as it started. the only problem is, i have to go to Wiscompton to get it, oh well the things i would do for a good beer...

Luce Line Mud Ride

A few weeks ago, dani, mike, and i went for a rogue mud ride on the luce line horse trails. this is the aftermath.

Project Banshee Sciroco part 3

So i went up to Stillwater to get some stuff from Troy for the Banshee. I went for the intent of picking up a front DT. Swiss 4.2 D hoop laced to a Marzocchi TA Hub, i came home with the wheel and the following.

1. A set of brandnew Maxxis Swampthings 26x2.35
2. A dank Chumba Racing Saddle
3. Sram 9 speed cassette
4. Race Face world cup dh bottom bracket, 68x113
5. A used specialized tire that has been studded for winter use
6. A Sette Stumpy 50mm reach stem, 25.4
7. Race Face Air Daddy bars, 25.4
8. Used Odi Ruffian Lockon grips

And now the banshee is starting to look like a bike.

Things i still need

1. A set of Avid BB7 mech disk brakes
2. Brake Levers
3. Rear Wheel
4. 9 speed shifter, perferbly Sram x9 or X0
5. A 9 speed chain
6. Shifter Cable and housing.
7. Brake Cable and housing
8. E13 LG1 Chain guide

McGangbang

so i started my night out by having a little jim, and a few pbr's, then i degressed to plauing indoors ultimate frisbee. it was at frisbee practice that my friend Eric and i decided to go and get mc gangbangs from mcdonalds, a mc gang band for those who dont know is a mc chicken surounded by two black patties. then i ended up getting and finishing a pitcher of long island ice teas at the bar it was a good evening, pardon my grammer, at time of this positng im still enjoying a nice home made taco and coming down off a good night of drinking. oh and yea, like the badass that i am i rode my bike drunk the whole time.

Project Banshee Scirocco part 2

hey so i finally got a fork (thanks to Ben from lacrosse) and a head set from Luke. The bike finally looks like a bike, well sort of at least. I also got some cranks and an x9 rear der from hunter. The fork by the way is a marz dirt jumper 1 w/ 130mm of travel.

things im still looking for:
*Brakes (BB7's)
*O/S Handlebars w/ Shorty Stem
*Thru Axle wheel set
*One X7 or X9 rear shifter (im gonna run it 1x9)
*9 speed cassette (11-34)
*Square taper bb
*9 Speed Chain
*Saddle

Bad Brews = Bad Ideas

So my friend recommend that i try Blue Moons Seasonal ale the Harvest Moon, and i can proudly say that it sucks. Do not buy this beer, its like mixing blue moon with moldy pumpkins. The only good thing this beer acomplished was letting me know never to buy it again, and not to trust my friends opinion. Drinking this horrible beer, gave me an absolutely brilliant idea. what better way to use the worst thing in cycling, the side pull brake, than as a door stop for my door that will never stay open. It even has an attack probe to keep intruders at bay.

GrandmasTrail, Wells Minnesota part 3

Last Friday i was able to spend a few hours adding flow to Grandmas Trail in Wells Minnesota. I started off by reworking the rock drop in the entrance of the trail. its a really fun drop coming into the trail but coming out it was very tricky to get up, a little rework later and it should be ride able, however it was wet out and I didn't test any of the features i built. after that rework I spent the rest of my time building log rides over the down trees in the trail. every thing should flow nicely.

towards the end of the trail i build a little rock garden, but i only had a few rocks to work with so i tried to place them as strategically as possible. if i get the chance to do trail work this week, i have a little bit more bench cutting i would like to do, so as to finish off the trail. then if time allows Chris D has started some reroutes towards the beginning of the trail and i would like to start clearing brush if i have the time.

sorry no pictures this time, but hopefully ill get some of the reworks in my next post.

Grandmas Trail, Wells Minnesota, part 2

I went back down to wells today to help Chris D out with some bench cutting, and brush clearing on Grandmas Trail, the south west section of the trail is coming along quite nicely, and things are really starting to set up and flow well. I will be going back down on Friday to do some work, because lucky me i have the day off from school. Hopefully i will be finishing up the bench cutting and log rides and will be able to start taping out some by passes with Chris to get a legitimate 1 mile of trail . And if anyone has access to a chainsaw i can borrow, i have ideas for a super secret technical feature.

Project Banshee Sciroco part 1

I recently picked up a 2004 Banshee Scirocco frame set from Magic, over on MORC. This bike will be build up as a 1x9 4x and Dual Slalom Machine. Currently i have the frame, a long cage Sram X9 rear derailleur, WTB Momentum Headset, and a pair of Truvativ Firex cranks w/ bashgard and 32 tooth chain ring. i cant wait to get this bike built, as it will be a do anything trail bike.

Pneumatic for Pete

Pete Ryan wants me to put pneumatic disk brakes on the banshee, i personally think this is a horrible idea, mainly due to the increased weight, and the sudden on and off actuation of the brakes.

edit: So Pete Ryan of MORBID and MORC wasnt satisifed with version 1. so here is the lighter and better version 2, including laser cat so you never have to worry about eye pokers on the river bottoms again.

Grandmas Trail, Wells Minnesota

Went down to Wells today, with Justin, to help Chris D. out with his trail project, currently we are at about 3/4 of a mile of trail, but a lot is happening in that space. today we worked on bench cutting some of the key off camber areas, we even built a little berm into the entrance of one area. the trail's coming along nicely. the plan is to have about 3+ miles of trail when we are done, with a little of something for everyone. currently its very slow to ride, but that is because it is new.

26.2

this past sunday, i subjected my self to 4 hours, 12 minutes, and 26 seconds. Of rain, cold, and 26.2 miles of twin cities marathon. this was number one of many to come. despite the rain and the cold, it was a party. shout outs to Dani, Andy, and Mike for a great marathon.

naturally i celebrated with a liter of millstream brewing' s very fine pale ale.

from right to left: me, mike, dani, and andy