holidy cheer

yup im a festive one

winter commuter

Fenders...Check. 32x14 Gearing... Check. Cold ass ride to class... Priceless

Trigger Pulled

well i did my civic duty today and pulled the trigger on some new sticks. i ordered up some head iSupershape Magnums off 3point5. cant wait till they get here

Epic Weekend

what can i say. i needed a mental break from mankato. thursday morning i loaded up the car, two bikes, gear, gas, coffee. check. lets roll. headed to madison to see my brother.

i set out on hwy 14 heading east. swung through rochester and hooked up with drew wilson we took the singles out to the secret location and rode for a solid 2 hrs of climbs and decents. finishing the ride off with a run through the dirty dozen. back on the road i cruised out 90 to 94 and shot down into madison. get into town. beer check. herb why not, drunken night ride through the city, fuck yea. friday morning wake up. peters at work, head down to machinery row and get some parts, start tinkering with peters beater bike. pete comes home, grab the dog and head to blule mounds to do some hiking. wish we woulda brought the bikes, epic single track. hike for a while then head back to madison. what does the night have for us. more beer and riding.

wake up saturday morning. peters at a workshop all day, do some physics then head out with the banshee. road through town to quary park and promplty destoryed my self. road the pump track, drops, jumps, skinnys to the best of my abilities for an hour then headed to lunch. got lunch, came back, and rode with some more locals for a few hours, had  a great time. went home and had dinner with peter and sara.

sunday wake up, eggs, coffee, fix the beater bike then head to lacrosse to ride hpt. hpt is fucking killer rode roughly 20miles and could hardly stand. thanks to Jen and Crew from the bike shop for showing me around. drive back to mankato,hmm theres a package for me. what could it be? my Time Attacks! fucking great end to a great weekend.

quary park mad town wiscompton

just got done spending a day at quary park in madison wi. holy crap am i destroyed. the trail is close to theo length but soley made up of gap jumps, step ups, step downs, pump track, log rides, skinneys, etc.

if your ever in madison you need to check this place out. plus the locals there are super cool. met a lot of really rad people, and learned alot about bike handling. you could really mess yourself up here if your not careful. unfortunately i didnt have my camera with, so no pics.

i hate decisions

so i love the concept of 650b and would love to make this my race rig for the 2010 mnscs series
Haro Beasly SS 650b yo! 4130 cromo goodness.

However i would really love a cross bike that i could build up a nice road wheel set for, that way i would have two bikes in one road/cross and would be able to get out for some rides when trails are wet.

Masi Speciale CX

i can only afford one. what should i do.

cheating death

26.2 the sequel

so today i ran my second marathon. not gonna lie, this one was a lot harder than my last even though it was on the same course. simply put i spent way too much time on my bicycle this summer and not enough time running. then about a month out from the race i started having ridiculous leg pain when i ran. i could hardly even complete a single mile. i ordered up some new shoes and it  took care of the problem, except for the part were i was sicker than a dog right up till race day. so i hardly even ran in the month leading up to the race.

the race came, and went. the weather was beautiful, and i flew threw the first ten miles. i felt wonderful, at mile 13. my left knee started to hurt so bad i wanted to cry, but i pushed through. i was on pace for a 3:45 marathon at mile 20. then i completely hit the wall. i struggled through the last 6.2 miles, but was still able to finish with 3:54.58, or roughly about 18 min faster than last years race. so for being  ill prepared, i think i did pretty dam well.

high lights included Mara Larson from the mountain bike patrol telling me that she was feeling better than i would tomorrow. and Dave Brunning my BCR teammate have a icy cold PBR for me at just before the 26th mile. i crossed the line pounding a beer. fuck yea.

any way results can be found here you'll want to enter my first name, last name and bib number. ie. tim werts 2210 in the corresponding spots.

Really? Really?

i just had to show my roomate, a self proclaimed cyclist of many years, how to use a tire pump. his excuse "well my dad always had an air compressor".

im sorry but if you cant operate a tire pump, you gota get your shit figured out.

tools to go

tough decisions

FELT Beernuts or the Pedros Trixie

pictured first is the felt beernuts which has a 15mm axle wrench and a beer opener, that handy attaches to the frame via wing nuts. the trixie has a lock ring tool, while while it would be handy would stick out on my mtb. it also has an opener, but not as well designed. however it aslo has the 15mm wrench along with 8,9,and 10 box wrenches, and a 5 mm hex. it too attaches vis wing nuts. but will it be too bulky? and will it open my beer as well? what do you think?

Dirt Jump Stoke

So Stoked. The city of Maple Plain has passed plans for a new Dirt Jump Park. Big Shou Outs go to Shad and Sean for making this possible. Maple Plain is about 15min from my moms place so my trips home will be way more fun

New Glarus brewery tour parts 2 and 3

the brewery tour continus...
part two of the tour came and went when i drunkley consumed brew two, the Uff-Da Bock. and because of that i dont really recally anthing particular about the beer, other than i really enjoyed it. any way here is the brew according to new glarus...

"Here is a Bock brewed to appease the Gods of Winter. Hearty and full-bodied this is a "Big" bier. Brewed in the Reinheitsgebot tradition, our Bock comes by its mahogany hue naturally. You can expect this bier to be complex and smooth with deep chocolate and coffee undertones, complementing the rich bouquet. No matter if you choose to enjoy our Bock before, during or after dinner, remember to serve at about 48°F. Because like many good things in life... the warmer Bock is, the sweeter it gets."

Style	Bock
Flavor	Smooth deep chocolate and coffe undertones
Alcohol	6.75% alcohol by volume

Part 3 of the tour brings us some soup. stone soup that is. this beer is drinkable to the point of delinquency. this can be attributed to its smooth, full body. right off the bat you can taste the clove in the beer, the flavor is unmistakable, however there was something else i couldn't figure out about the beer. that was the ginger in it.

"Who is qualified to judge one's contribution? Is it the pure Wisconsin barley malt or shall credit be given to traditional German and English hops? Maybe it is the Belgian Monastic yeast or the Brewer's tender care? Combined, this is a sophisticated Abbey style ale. Both elegant and drinkable this ale is cleanly aromatic with spicy notes of clove and ginger. Crisp and fragrant up front while gracefully sliding into warm malt notes at the finish.

Fermented natually in this bottle, the beer in your hand is a living testament to the value of many working together to create something bigger than the individual parts. Moving a mountain begins with a single stone."

Style	Abbey Ale
Flavor	Cleanly aromatic with spicy notes
Alcohol	5.3%

2nd place

Flamingos bending cranks took second place at the Afton 2-4 this year. we raced in the 4person co-ed category and managed to finish 23 laps in technically 25hrs, because our last rider went out at just before the 5pm cut off. High lights for me included killing a bat during my first lap, riding at night, rocking the rigid ss, passing people on the man handler, cranking out a 46 min 35 sec hot lap, getting two hours of sleep, drinking beers my my morc boys and gals... well basically every thing was great. Huge props go to morc for all their hard effort. Salsa for sponsering the event. Mary for letting me demo some TIME Attacxs pedals, Sam St. Pierre for letting me borrow a head lamp, and lastly my BCR homies for being the coolest team mates out there.

and some photos still cant find one of matt

 

 Jessica rocking it

Dave on the crampcycle

this is at the end of lap four for me which took place between 6 and 7 am, which is why my light is still on, even though i clearly dont need it.  

course map

buy local drink yokel

as promised im starting my new glarus tour

up first is the yokel...


"Savor this creamy headed pint at your favorite escape. Here's to cards on the table, a juke box chewing coins, chalk on your cue, and your favorite brew washing down the perfect burger.

This is a whole beer straight from the tanks smooth unfiltered and without pretense. Wisconsin, German and England barleys and the finest Bavarian hops combine in classic German brewing methods. You are holding the freshest possible Wisconsin beer.

Expect this beer to be comfortable, crisp and slightly cloudy. Enjoy our salute to every guy who finished his game and left the kids quarters on the table. Remember Buy Local, Drink Yokel."

my initial impressions of the beer yielded a very sweet, almost honey like qualities. the beer was very smooth, and overly refreshing on a hot summer day. any way its not a good post with out some pictures. so here are some, at justins place drinkg and working on the banshee, which is once again out of commission. this time due to the bead failing on the front tire. should have it in running condition for the Afton 2-4. and hopefully mid next week ill have a rhythm front wheel to replace my debilitated 4.2d

summer over

well as much as it sucks summer is coming to an end. classes are starting up on Monday and i have yet to finalize my registration. i just need one more class but can get into the ones i want. any way since ive last posted i went on a family vacation to dodgeville wisconsion. my brother came over from madison and we got to spend some quality family time. we toured some local winneries, and the new glarus brewery. you can look foward to a six part brewery tour as i sample and post up six of my favorite new glarus brews in the up coming month. we also toured Frank Loyd Wrights Talliessen, and house on the rock. both were absoutley fabulous tours and once i get pictues from my moms camera i will be posting those up.

on the trip home we swung through Pairie Du Chein and stopped by The Prarie Peddler. got to have a nice chat with Marty Larson. turns out hes my bosses cousin. and more importantly got to check out the Singulars, as featured in Dirt Rag Magazine. they are super cool bikes, and id love to get one. so feel free to donate the the Tim Needs a New Bike Cause im Broke as Shit Foundation. all dontations will not be tax refundable, but hey at least i will geta new bike out of it.

love at first sight

i need this bike. Kona Bass SS. can you say fuck yea!

Grandmas Group Ride

its been awhile since ive posted. the last two mnscs races have come and gone... poorly. race four of the season happened at my home hill of mount kato. after a fantastic start and solid positioning on the first climb, i broke my chain. which equaled a dnf. two weeks later im in redwing for race five of the season. geared wrong. the course was a total 32x20 course. i showed up with 32x16, essentially bringing a nife to a gun fight, cause the course was a total 32x20 course. but it didn't really matter, cause after suffering through the first lap, i snapped my brake cable in half, ending yet another race with a dnf. i have since switched back to a 20t, but have been plagued with chain dropping issues. hopefully a new chain and some readjustments to my chain ring should have the problem solved. tonight was the second grandmas group ride down in wells Minnesota. we had a solid turn out with five of us. did about 8 laps, drove back into town, and rode our bikes out to the wildcat bar and restaurant. $2.50 beers go a long way when the come in a 25oz mug.

be there

murphy 6:30 tonight. bring a single speed.

Zombieland

This movie looks fricken awesome.

I is 22?

well apparently i survived another year, and im know 22. so what am i doing on my birthday, on a beautiful June day? Im going to class, shit...

The Dark Side of the Spoke

Well i converted to the dark side of the spoke on Tuesday. Thats right, i went for a road ride, spandex and all. im not gonna lie, when i say i liked it. it was a great way to get some miles in, and push my self to new limits. i demoed a trek 2.3 from work and loved it. between the carbon seat stay, and carbon fork. the bike road really nice. i was even able to keep up for a bit on my bosses 30+mph sprints. on Tuesday we clocked 32.7 miles in 1hr 48min, which to me felt like a damn good pace. then on wed, i did 42 in 2hrs 28min, which im pretty proud of, because i didn't have the opportunity to draft off my co workers. highlights of the group ride included saving one of my bosses from the bonk by breaking the wind, and keeping pace with the others sprints.

unfortunately i wasn't able to get any action shots of the bike. but here is a little eye candy from treks web page. components were a blend of shimano 105 and ultegra, and treks in house component group bontrager.

MN Nice Teaser

My Minnesnota boys continue to kill it. check out this teaser for the fall release of MN Nice

Courtesy of Newschoolers.com

MNSCS Races 1&2

So races one and two of the MNSCS series have come and gone. the first race of the season was the Eriks Spring Cup at Salem Hills in Inver Grove Heights. i took 4th in class and 77/110 overall in the Comp Single Speed category for Bent Crank Racing.

Race two was yester at Afton Alps Ski Area, it was 3 laps of 1800+ vertical feet of climbs per lap, for a total of 18 miles. once again i finished fourth in class and finished 70/93 so decently consistent. and it was on the single speed. i ended up being the main points earner for BCR, as i passed all of my geared team mates.

any way heres a picture from the Afton Avalanche.

Drop!

just got back from grandmas trail. the new drop is so much fun. and the trail flows really, really well do to some strategic cuts from chris.

it also looks like i will be racing as part of the bent crank racing team in this years MNSCS series. i will be racing in comp single speed. it should be a great time.

coming to an end

well the school years finally drawing to an end, i have my last final tomorrow morning, its my industrial safety final, and we get open notes and open book for the exam, so it should be a breeze. then i have a week off before summer school starts up.

75 miles off road. bitches

so here is how the week has gone so far

1. rode 20 miles at murphy on Wednesday on Luke's Raleigh XXiX. it was my first time on the big boy tires and i gotta say that if it was a medium instead of a large. id be hooked on this whole 29er nonsense.
2. rode grandmas trail and became throughly disgruntled with the banshee project. mainly because of the bent rear axle which causes some shitty shifting. i did five there and another five at seven mile on the muss.
3. rocked out another 20 at murphy on Friday. had a gnarly crash off the skinny. but im really starting to get good at pumping and flowing with the trail
4. rode 21 today at Leb, had some super gnarly crashes, while i rode with Sam this super cool older guy rocking a new GF Rig. and in Sam's words, i had some truly spectacular saves that should have brought me and the tree down together.
5. and now im about to go and grill some veggie brats and get hammered.

peace

Peace out.

weak sauce

ive been pretty weak with my postings this month. but im getting out to ride Murphy today. so hopefully i can get some photos up of the ensuing carnage that will result from my attempt at the skinny.

A bit of this and a bit of that

its been a while since i posted up. so i'll put out what ive been up to.

1. riding lots.
2. school.
3. work.

all in that order.

Teddybear Crisis 2

I am so pumped cause Kris Ostness is the shit.

Courtesy of Newschoolers.com

Beer Wars

This was posted up over on the MORC forum, and i am so stoked. 4-16-09 you'll know where to find me.

R.I.P Shane McConkey

Its a very sad day. My freeskiing hero Shane McConkey has passed away while shooting for an upcoming match stick producitons film. ive always idolized his up beat and always sunny personality.

The first Time i witisned his antics and the stoy 0f Saucer Boy was in MSP's ski movie two back in the volant days. and i continued to admire and respect his sking, and the progression of the sport through his most recent fim Claim.

Shane you will be missed.

the following write up can be found on espn.

Shane McConkey, 1969-2009

Legendary skier, innovator, friend and all-around industry ruler Shane McConkey passes away.

March 26, 2009, 5:46 PM

By: Tim Mutrie

Graeme Murray/Red Bull Photofiles

Decorated big mountain skier and BASE jumper Shane McConkey was killed earlier today in a ski-BASE accident in the Italian Dolomites.

A member of the Red Bull Air Force and pioneer of the ski-BASE-ing phenomenon, McConkey experienced problems in the air after launching off a cliff with the expectation of deploying his parachute canopy and then gliding down to the ground—as he had done successfully some 700-plus times before.

"He did a double backflip off the jump and he has these releasable bindings so they come off in the air and then he flies off in his wing suit," filmmaker Scott Gaffney, a longtime close friend of McConkey's, told ESPN Action Sports in an interview this afternoon via phone.

"But one ski did not come off. And when that happens the drag on the skis causes you to flip over, so the skis go over your head. So he was struggling with the one ski. Then he also got into a bad spin. So he may have never even pulled his pilot chute. And that's coming from JT Holmes, who Shane was with in Italy and who reviewed the footage of the accident. So the combination of the ski, the spin and the pilot chute, apparently. Because you can't throw the pilot chute like that; if you throw it while you're upside down and it wraps around the ski, you're done."

McConkey was filming with Matchstick Productions and Red Bull at the time, according to Gaffney, who said McConkey apparently died on impact with snow on the ground below the cliff. Gaffney was not clear about the size of the cliff. "But it had to be a sizable cliff, at least 400 feet, for him to be planning on flying his wing suit away from it," Gaffney said.

McConkey, 39, of Olympic Valley, Calif., is survived by his wife, Sherry, and their 3½-year-old daughter, Ayla.

This afternoon Gaffney was at home in Squaw Valley, Calif., with his brother, Robb, also a close friend of McConkey's, reeling from the news. "With what Shane does," said Scott, "it's a call you always picture getting at some point, but you realistically don't ever expect it to happen."

Added Robb Gaffney, "Shane's been a part of our lives for quite a while now. I'm just sitting at Scott's house processing the whole thing. The texts and calls are coming in, and you can really even feel it in the air in Squaw right now. I'm thinking about Sherry and his little girl. But in this area people have always loved Shane, so Sherry and Ayla, they're going to have an immense amount of support around them. That's one thing for sure; that's Shane's legacy."

Hometown: Olympic Valley, Cali.

Family:Wife, Sherry; Daughter, Ayla

Nickname: Cliff Huckstable

Sponsors: Red Bull, K2, Sessions, Nordica, Marker, Oakley, Squaw Valley USA

Accolades: 1996, 1998: IFSA World Tour of Freeskiing, World Champ 1999: Winter X Games Skier X, 2nd 2001: Skiing Mag Top 25 Skiers in N.A., 1st 2002, 2005, 2006: Powder Mag Reader's Poll Awards, 1st 2005: Laureus World Sport Award, Nominee

Film Parts: 1997-2008: Matchstick Productions '95, '99, '00, '02: Scott Gaffney Pictures 1999: Teton Gravity Research 2005: Warren Miller Films

Red Bull Winch

Alex Horner out of Duluth never ceases to amaze me with his incredible editing skills. and the skiing is pretty dam sick too, cause d crew slays. check this out.

2008/2009 Winch Edit! from Alex Horner on Vimeo.

Candide Kamera

One more reason why Candide Thovex is on the top of his game

Courtesy of Newschoolers.com

Beerlympics

Kona UTE vs. Surly Big Dummy







Kona Sutra Vs. Salsa Fargo





i see some striking resemblances both in styles and build kits. the question is. are the kona offerings as good as qualitys? that said they need to be tested and put through their paces.

this is what i recommend. get one of each and load them up as heavy as they can handle, then come up with a series of rigorous tests to put them through the paces.

im thinking a keg toting and growler fill up relay would be pretty sweet. two teams of two, one team takes off on the big boys to go get the kegs first one back tags off to partner who heads to brew pub to fill up and stash as many growlers as possible.

Project Banshee Scirocco part 5

I went to Luke's last night to finish the build.

His dog T Bone ate the rest of my Sram Mechanical, so im running it 1x9.


Getting the drive line in place.


Luke working his magic


the best damn head badge ever


routing the cables


Complete at 31.74 pounds


its ridable for now. some immediate things i need to address include crimp on ends to prevent the cables from fraying, i need to heli coil my seat tube clamp, and i need to figure out a better tire siltation other than some crappy 1.95 wtb allterrainasarus. i also need to get the rear wheel trued up as it has a little hop to it.

my initial thoughts after riding it around the block, include incredibly efficient pedaling and a really neutral and flick able feel to it. i cant wait to hit up some trails with it.

Project Banshee Scirocco part 4

I got the Banshee rolling today. once i get my ISCG mount, it will be complete. Until then, enjoy some low quality bike porn.

April showers bring May WTF! Its Feburary.

Its February here in minnesnota, and we've had a day full of rain. what the fuck is up with this? how am i suppose to work on my two seventy on's onto the flat down at kato if its raining? oh well i suspose this means biking season is comming closer.

i talked to chris d today and it looks like well be digging again in wells in as soon as six weeks. so look foward to some more upadates in that department. in other news the banshee is almost finished, just need a rear wheel, tires, chain, and iscg adapter and it will be rolling. maybe a possible job at my lbs will help finish it up here.

this weekend i have a bump comp up at spirit, and i hope they havent had the rain we've had here. it looking like a trip up friday night, riding that evening, comp saturday. then pug fest on suday at hillside park in elk river, should be a good weekend.

Ride the River

Yesterday Luke Ratz and I went for a ride on the LeSueur River in Mankato. We started at a public water access off of Stoltzman and rode up river 5.17 miles to the Old Kern Bridge. then we turned around and rode back. It was a wonderul ride. I rode on my 32*21 geared muss with my gnarly maxxis swamp things. these tires are unreal on the snow. Luke rode on his raleigh xxix geared 33*20 with some wtb tires.

photos were taken on lukes camera.

RIP FKS

So i finally get to post about skiing. and its not a good thing. my FKS Race 155 bindings failed tonight epically. the bolt that holds the rear heel piece in place sheared off. fortunately i wasnt skiing when it happened. i had just finished a rail session at kato, and when i went to take the ski off. it broke.

so if anyone has any old fks heel piece around, let me know i need it.

Sketchy dosent do this justice

i think if i had a 8in travel down hill bike with massively studded tires id try it. but on a hard tail dirt jumper. hell no.

oh and blogger is being really lame, so you will have to click on the title to view the video. or follow this link.

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/55729/

new year new post

i thought id kick off the new years with some of my favorite quotes. enjoy.

"The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his leisure and his body, his education and recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both." -author unknown

"colleges being nothing but grooming schools for the midleclass nonidentity which usually finds is perfect expression on the outskirts of the campus in rows of well to do houses with lawns and television sets in each living room with every body looking at the same thing and thinking the same thing at the same time while the Japhies of the world go prowling in the wilderness to hear the voice crying in the wilderness, to find the ecstasy of the stars, to find the dark mysterious secret of the origin of faceless wonderless crapulous cililization."
-Jack Kerouac- The Dharma Bums

“Hi.” — Squirrel
“Hi.” — Girl at party
“I’m Squirrel Murphy. I suppose a fucks out of the question?”
-Hot Dog the Movie

“Whata da fuck is the Chinese downhill?” — Kendo Yamamoto
-Hot Dog the Movie