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.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
The Bike
Rode the bike yesterday.
Bullards Bar.
Near record high temps.
Lots of ticks. Careful if you're down there right now... their thirsty.
Felt good. Good to be riding. It'd been since Christmas since I'd been on the saddle and I'd almost forgot how I missed the feeling of rolling through the woods on a bike with my leg hairs waving in the breeze. The weather was perfect (read; warm) allowing all of my very very white appendages to see the light of day for the first time in months.
Bullards Bar: We parked at the Dark Day Boat Launch and rode the roller coaster like Bullards Bar Trail towards Willow Creek and then did the climb up towards Camptonville. From there, it's a little bit of dirt road riding back towards Marrysville Rd. Once there, you will see 8 Ball Trail running on the South side of Marrysville Rd. We took this trail to Schoolhouse Trail which drops you back to Bullards Bar Trail for a few more miles of roller coaster type stuff back to your car. There's a couple more trails there, but the mentioned route makes for a nice loop... especially if you haven't been riding for a while.
Things of note: TICKS!! When we rode, they were everywhere! And I mean it! Upon inspection of almost any bush, vine, branch or anything else that was slightly overgrowing into the trail you would see these little bastards hanging out on the very ends of said overgrowth waiting for you come by so they could latch on. We stopped many times to do a "tick check" and were fortunate to only find a few of them actually on us. I think that when your on a bike at speed on the trail they have a harder time grabbing a hold of something and get "bounced off". If guessing that if you were hiking you'd have them pretty much all over you. Keep an eye out... these little bastards can really mess you up if you let them. My advice: Ride fast and check yourself often.
Also, about a 1/4 mile past the Dark Day area heading towards Schoolhouse the trail is severely washed out. It's possible to get through, but you'll have to earn it. The washout is about 15ft across and at least this deep.
One more thing; if you forget the ice/snow to keep your beer cold, initial testing we've done seems to prove that covering said "liquid refreshment" with abundantly found ground cover (leaves, pine needles and the like) does indeed keep things at a nice chilly temp.
Bullards Bar.
Near record high temps.
Lots of ticks. Careful if you're down there right now... their thirsty.
Felt good. Good to be riding. It'd been since Christmas since I'd been on the saddle and I'd almost forgot how I missed the feeling of rolling through the woods on a bike with my leg hairs waving in the breeze. The weather was perfect (read; warm) allowing all of my very very white appendages to see the light of day for the first time in months.
Bullards Bar: We parked at the Dark Day Boat Launch and rode the roller coaster like Bullards Bar Trail towards Willow Creek and then did the climb up towards Camptonville. From there, it's a little bit of dirt road riding back towards Marrysville Rd. Once there, you will see 8 Ball Trail running on the South side of Marrysville Rd. We took this trail to Schoolhouse Trail which drops you back to Bullards Bar Trail for a few more miles of roller coaster type stuff back to your car. There's a couple more trails there, but the mentioned route makes for a nice loop... especially if you haven't been riding for a while.
Things of note: TICKS!! When we rode, they were everywhere! And I mean it! Upon inspection of almost any bush, vine, branch or anything else that was slightly overgrowing into the trail you would see these little bastards hanging out on the very ends of said overgrowth waiting for you come by so they could latch on. We stopped many times to do a "tick check" and were fortunate to only find a few of them actually on us. I think that when your on a bike at speed on the trail they have a harder time grabbing a hold of something and get "bounced off". If guessing that if you were hiking you'd have them pretty much all over you. Keep an eye out... these little bastards can really mess you up if you let them. My advice: Ride fast and check yourself often.
Also, about a 1/4 mile past the Dark Day area heading towards Schoolhouse the trail is severely washed out. It's possible to get through, but you'll have to earn it. The washout is about 15ft across and at least this deep.
One more thing; if you forget the ice/snow to keep your beer cold, initial testing we've done seems to prove that covering said "liquid refreshment" with abundantly found ground cover (leaves, pine needles and the like) does indeed keep things at a nice chilly temp.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
ticky tack
Soooo.... been skiin'. Damn. Sure feels good. Sure is fun. Viewed by some as "hard", the hike up the skin track is -at least for me- very therapeutic (we're talking backcountry skiing here people). It gives me a chance to catch up with friends, get some exercise and sort my thoughts. Countless are the times I've worked out a solution to a problem while hiking up a mountain with skis on my feet and a peak an hour off in the distance. Mighty Mobile's name was actually conceived while hiking up a skin track on the west shore of Tahoe while thinking of Mighty Mouse in some random string of thoughts. Don't ask me how... it just kind of happens that way for me sometimes.
Then... then there's the ride back down. Bouncing down the side of a mountain through snow is something that needs to be experienced to fully understand and appreciate. The freedom of choosing your own lines back down is beautifully unrestricted and sooooo fun with your only boundaries being gravity and the size of your cojones (english usage).
But (there's always a "but") the bike is never far from my mind. I don't think a day goes by when I don't think of an endless ribbon of trail that strings on for miles. Which trail? Where does it go? I don't know and I don't care but I want to be on it! It's been said before that my favorite trail is "the one I'm on right now" and for the most part nothing could be more true.
My thoughts this year are to do some more racing. I had a pretty good go of it last summer and wouldn't mind carrying the momentum into 2011 while I still have the drive, health and time. Been looking at bikes. Been thinking about races. Don't want to "bite off more than I can chew". Gotta be careful. Pick the right races for me. Keep it fun. Keep it real.
Meh... either that or I'll renew my fishing license this year and work on my relaxation skills and ability to drink cheap beer.
Then... then there's the ride back down. Bouncing down the side of a mountain through snow is something that needs to be experienced to fully understand and appreciate. The freedom of choosing your own lines back down is beautifully unrestricted and sooooo fun with your only boundaries being gravity and the size of your cojones (english usage).
But (there's always a "but") the bike is never far from my mind. I don't think a day goes by when I don't think of an endless ribbon of trail that strings on for miles. Which trail? Where does it go? I don't know and I don't care but I want to be on it! It's been said before that my favorite trail is "the one I'm on right now" and for the most part nothing could be more true.
My thoughts this year are to do some more racing. I had a pretty good go of it last summer and wouldn't mind carrying the momentum into 2011 while I still have the drive, health and time. Been looking at bikes. Been thinking about races. Don't want to "bite off more than I can chew". Gotta be careful. Pick the right races for me. Keep it fun. Keep it real.
Meh... either that or I'll renew my fishing license this year and work on my relaxation skills and ability to drink cheap beer.
Friday, December 31, 2010
hippy hillidaze
Tell ya what, I'm ready for things to settle down a bit. Ever since signing the lease on a new rental house back in Mid Oct, I've been busier than a one legged man in an ass kicking contest.
First on the list way back when was firewood. After an amazingly long winter last year, we went through wood piles that I forgot we even had. This was kind of OK in the sense that I didn't have to move existing wood from one house to another but the caveat was the amount of wood I felt I needed to cut to keep things toasty inside the house this winter would be rather large. Meh, whadda ya gonna do. I made the best of it "maxing out" my little trucks potential doing loads of lodgepole around here and taking my bike with me down into the foothills for smaller loads of oak.
Next would be the actual act of moving. Man I hate moving. It seems so easy when you look around your house but when you start packing up the last 5 years of your life you realize that your ability to pack things away like a squirrel storing food for the winter kinda turns around to bite you in the arse now that you're responsible for getting all of your junk across town and into a new place. Anyone who visited the Truckee thrift store in early Nov probably scored some pretty neat stuff as many-a-loads were taken there. Then of course there's utility connections, address changes and figuring out just where to put all your junk from the last house.
Not too long after moving, my trucks intermittent inability to start turned into something a little more consistent.... like never wanting to start. After having a look around the engine compartment and cleaning up a few contacts I officially maxed out my electrical troubleshooting capacity and called a professional (or at least a guy with a test light and ohm meter) to get things sorted out. After getting all "high tech" with test lights and remote starting systems it turned out to be a loose screw on my ignition switch. I guess things loosen up after countless turns of the key to start the truck in its last 16 years. Meh, I can handle that since I put almost exactly NO maintenance into that thing.
Let's see, next would an epic trip back east with Megan (girlfriend) for Thanksgiving where we left for the Reno airport in a blinding snowstorm. After almost turning around (twice) on our way out of Truckee, we amazingly made it to the airport on time. Once back on the east coast I would be rewarded for my efforts with the annual Thanksgiving day ride back in the "motherland" of Pennsylvania. Of course, it rained but we still had 12 people show up for the ride which has probably been going on for 20+ years now. After spending about 5 days back in my hometown we packed up and headed to Baltimore Md for the last two nights and spent a day at the Baltimore Aquarium. This place is friggin' rad! If you're ever in the area, it's a must see. Watch out for "giant man eating fish" if you go!!
First on the list way back when was firewood. After an amazingly long winter last year, we went through wood piles that I forgot we even had. This was kind of OK in the sense that I didn't have to move existing wood from one house to another but the caveat was the amount of wood I felt I needed to cut to keep things toasty inside the house this winter would be rather large. Meh, whadda ya gonna do. I made the best of it "maxing out" my little trucks potential doing loads of lodgepole around here and taking my bike with me down into the foothills for smaller loads of oak.
Next would be the actual act of moving. Man I hate moving. It seems so easy when you look around your house but when you start packing up the last 5 years of your life you realize that your ability to pack things away like a squirrel storing food for the winter kinda turns around to bite you in the arse now that you're responsible for getting all of your junk across town and into a new place. Anyone who visited the Truckee thrift store in early Nov probably scored some pretty neat stuff as many-a-loads were taken there. Then of course there's utility connections, address changes and figuring out just where to put all your junk from the last house.
Not too long after moving, my trucks intermittent inability to start turned into something a little more consistent.... like never wanting to start. After having a look around the engine compartment and cleaning up a few contacts I officially maxed out my electrical troubleshooting capacity and called a professional (or at least a guy with a test light and ohm meter) to get things sorted out. After getting all "high tech" with test lights and remote starting systems it turned out to be a loose screw on my ignition switch. I guess things loosen up after countless turns of the key to start the truck in its last 16 years. Meh, I can handle that since I put almost exactly NO maintenance into that thing.
Let's see, next would an epic trip back east with Megan (girlfriend) for Thanksgiving where we left for the Reno airport in a blinding snowstorm. After almost turning around (twice) on our way out of Truckee, we amazingly made it to the airport on time. Once back on the east coast I would be rewarded for my efforts with the annual Thanksgiving day ride back in the "motherland" of Pennsylvania. Of course, it rained but we still had 12 people show up for the ride which has probably been going on for 20+ years now. After spending about 5 days back in my hometown we packed up and headed to Baltimore Md for the last two nights and spent a day at the Baltimore Aquarium. This place is friggin' rad! If you're ever in the area, it's a must see. Watch out for "giant man eating fish" if you go!!
After Thanksgiving, it was back to "normal" life in Truckee. Super busy this time of year. The ski shop I work part time at is in it's busiest time of the season and there's more work there than you can shake a stick at. Add to this the fact that I'm still doing a fair amount of bike work and it leaves little time for skiing although I've still been able to get out a few times.
Getting out of town for Thanksgiving worked out so well that we thought we'd try it again for Christmas and visit Megans folks in Santa Barbara. Super nice. Warm. Green. Took the road bike. Did a "sensible" ride one day and then a stoopid ride the next which found me on a 45 mile loop with almost 5,000ft of climbing. After riding less than twice in the last 8 weeks, I felt a little out of my element and ate everything I could find in the fridge upon returning back to the house. Ahhh, I can't wait for spring when I can feel like this on a weekly basis.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Whadda Ya Do
With wrenches spinning and freewheels tick tick ticking away I often get asked the question of "so... what do you do in the winter?" as I'm working on someones bike at their house in the middle of a hot summer day. As cool as it would be to simply answer "ski" the reality of the situation here at Might Mobile is that I DO like eating food throughout the winter, ski equipment requires payment with actual US currency and electricity is really something that I've grown accustomed to would like to keep around the house. All of this stuff costs money and although I'm sooooo thankful that I can make it in Tahoe in the summer months via wrenching on bikes, I still need to work throughout the winter.
The past couple of winters, I've been spending my time at the Start Haus in Truckee. The shop is primarily a race shop, but does dabble in backcountry gear and freeride skis as well. I usually find myself tuning skis and doing some boot fitting.
When tuning skis, I'm usually staring at stickers on various pieces of equipment depicting that even if I read this...
The past couple of winters, I've been spending my time at the Start Haus in Truckee. The shop is primarily a race shop, but does dabble in backcountry gear and freeride skis as well. I usually find myself tuning skis and doing some boot fitting.
When tuning skis, I'm usually staring at stickers on various pieces of equipment depicting that even if I read this...
.... I still may find myself like this
Neat huh.
Do I do ANY bike work in the winter? You betcha! If you've got problems, I've got solutions. But, until global warming really takes over and we're riding the Tahoe Rim Trail in January you'll find me at the Start Haus running skis through some sort of machine or trying to contort my hands and wrists while attempting to do a grind within the confines of a ski boot.
Coincidentally, I'd like to give a big ole' shout out and thank you to all my customers that have made Mighty Mobile a success again this past summer! From the guy with the flat tire to the gal that got the suspension rebuild thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! Thanks for letting me help you.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Stuff to do
If you're looking for something to do next Tue night (the 16th) head on over to the 50/50 Brewing Co and check out a movie about the 2010 Great Divide Race.
Ride The Divide Movie Trailer from Ride The Divide on Vimeo.
If a 2,700 mile race with 200,000ft of climbing sounds like a good time then this race is for you! I wouldn't waste too much time looking for my name to be on the start list for 2011. Hundred milers are the limit for me these days.
Friday, October 29, 2010
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