Tax Tyme

Tax time for Mighty Mobile at least. Yep, good ole' California sales tax is due by the last day of this month and I've just sent in my check keeping my "rolling bike shop" in good standing until the next time the tax man cometh. Now it's time to wait and see how well the state manages the money. It is your money after all so you should be concerned about just where your 8.875% of that last tire, chain and/or set of brake pads you bought from me actually goes. I'll settle up with the Feds within the next week and then it's on to more important things for 2011 for Mighty Mobile like....

.....BIKE RACING! Yep, things are "in the works" for this year and I'm currently in negotiations with several manufacturers about the procurement of a new rig in which to stain the downtube with drink mix, ruin the shine of the top tube with sweat and otherwise suffer upon on various race courses in the area. I won't jinx myself with anything too revealing at this stage but will say that it's going to be a hardtail, have big wheels and -if things follow through from yesterday- it'll be red and white which just happens to be the O-ficial Mighty Mobile color scheme. My race calendar is slowly being put together but I can say with some certainty that the first two races of the season will be the Napa Valley Dirt Classic on April 10th followed by the Shasta Lemurian Classic on April 30th.

Nope, won't be hitting the Sea Otter Classic even though it's a classic which seems to be an important part of my race calender selection process this year. Sorry. The timing of this race really sucks for me. Mighty Mobile can be quite busy this time of year and the thought of being at a race that spans four days in length just doesn't work while I really should be working. Plus, this is also the time of year when I'm putting the route together for the FTR requiring at least a couple of trips down to the foothills for scouting the Nevada City areas sweet sweet singletrack.

I'm also looking into the Park Tool Tech Summit this year. What's the Park Tech Tool Summit you say?? This is when a bunch of industry folks (uber tech geeks) get together and rebuild forks, hydraulic disc brakes and other misc bicycle componentry down to the tiniest of tiny parts. I'm a little torn on this one. On one hand, it'd be neat to rip apart a new Campy electronic shiftlever without worrying about losing parts, breaking some really expensive small internals or otherwise wasting half a day tinkering with something that doesn't have a century ride or race in the next 24 hours. On the other hand, I could be riding bikes or skiing neck deep powder... both of which are really, really fun. It's a two day seminar in Long Beach and the dates are coming up quick. If I'm gonna do this, I guess I'd better act fast.

For now that's it, but there's more. Much much more. The next time you read this some of the above questions will be answered with some others brought up for discussion, contemplation, procrastination or ponderance.