This Week on the Web 1

So much goes by on the web and Twitter (follow me @ Fahzure) that I've decided to briefly review a few of the more interesting:

Not quite sure how this works even after reading about it: Solids (metal) lighter than air

SLC local marketing new bicycle light system

Sperm bikes

Story on Pashley the oldest British bike manufacturer

According to NOAA, over half the USA population lives within 50 miles of an ocean.  Could wave (moon) power be the next sustainable resource.

OK this one's a bit older, but super important: Biker's lung?

You've seen the pics and some vid , now here's a pro quality edit of the Canyon's Bike Park:


Canyons Bike Park, Fall 2011 from justin olsen on Vimeo.

SSSSSS-Super Sick Specialized SX Sending Sunday

For more than 10 years, Fahzure's primary ride was his Killing Machine but, on its fourth fork and needing drivetrain and brake work, the Killing Machine became hard to trust.  I shopped around for over a year anticipating catastrophic failure of the KM (it never happened). I rode the Ibis Mojo HD, Knolly Chilcotin, Yeti 7, Intense Tracer and many more of the 6-7 inch offerings. I decided that I had to have coils, front and rear, some sort of multi-link rear end, and a design based on a 180mm fork.  Tys chose to support the home team, by picking up a One, so that eliminated that option for me. Thanks to my friends at Big Red and Wasatch Touring, I was able update my ride while staying within the lineage. At my age, the less I have to adapt, the better, I thought. Fahzure's new ride: 

 The Specialized SX Trail is the longest travel non-dual crown offering available from Big Red. I switched out the drivetrain to 10sp Shimano, put on a 90mm Thomson stem, meaty Oury grips and a Reverb seatpost, which is awesome when it works, so far, not very often; 39 lbs as you see it.  Saddle is a donor from Griffy after the stock slim jim folded (you'll thank me later, Chowdah) on no footer hard landers.  Lots of stuff on the bar and still tons of room:

 Front hubs are indistinguishable in my opinion, the Fox axle works well:

 Fancy front end: matching color F & F, headset, hub:

Look at all of those shapes, angles and joints:

 XT 10speed w/ SLX shifters has worked great; cool through axle, derail hanger, derail guard:

After six months of light use, the green ano has started to fade at different rates, to different tones; earn your turns stem:

 I'm fairly indifferent about cranks and pedals, as long as they don't break; my first steady relationship with a chainguide equipped bike has been a bit testy:

 Four pot Code brake calipers combined with carbon XO levers, light and super powerful brakes; so far, so good on the rear hub:

750 mm-29.5 inches wide handlebars is quite a switch up for Fahzure, who previously was running bars in the 25-26 inch range.  Fahzure loves his table tops, turn downs and, especially, X-ups. The wide bars combined with the longish stem are intimidating, where bar ends can catch on legs or clothing...will it work out?:

 Super Sick Sending Sundays came to end this past weekend and the turnout was as strong as ever, all kinds of conveyances were present; little tykes:

Many people were first timers on janky bikes, like this one with the quill-type stem a full inch and a quarter above the minimum insert line:

Danky Dan, who has taken up with a plastic 29er, was out Crossfit training on his dualie:

Tys styling the big stepdown:

Fahzure in the skills park:

Flo nearly bottomed out in the skills park (check those stanchions):

 

In the skills park, I got the courage to try a number of tricks on the new bike, including suicide no handers, no footers, and X-ups; on the big stepdown, I got to send it:

Griffy sends it legoman moto style:

Extend your arms and legs, scoot back, twist your arms to full click at the elbow:

Pavel was up with the Go Pro and, with lightening fast speed, put together these two vids of Fahzure and Tys:

 Thanks for a great fall warmup, Canyons, Tys, Pavel, Flo. So far, the transition to SX has been seamless, with one exception. All of my other bikes are black or blackish. I'm considering some repaints this winter, perhaps in dark metallic:

SSSSS-Super Sick Sending Sunday, with Stacy

You my recall that Fahzure has predicted that mountain bike parks are the future of cycling.  Their ability to make fun for a wide variety of ages and abilities make them much like ski areas, complete with the lodge scene, though often relocated to the parking lot. Well,  the Wasatch front has been missing out on the bike park innovation for a few years with resorts slow to hop on board with served mountain biking and even slower to develop freeride trails.  This year, despite a late start, the Canyons has stepped it up and open real bike park style trails ($15 Lift Tickets!...next weekend is end of season).

Good rides often start with friends in the parking lot:

Although, there were long lines, I was fortunate to drop right in behind some Posse members and right next to Stacy.  You remember Stacy, who smoked Dirty in a throwdown DH race at Deer Valley in front of the Backcountry.com crew, don't you?:

The long lines made the trail that much more tasty, once rolling:

The crue (as we've been named) rolling the intermediate line:

Tice, first day back, pretty much, satellite out:

Classic Fahzure style off the big step down:

Tice big stepdown:

Little and big stepdown options.  Look ma, no hands:

No footer with partial crue watching:

Dishing it:

For some reason, almost nobody noticed the skills park, complete with wood chip stepup/ghetto foam pit.  Fahzure tried spinning threes and nailed crank flips:

Flo airing through the skills park on his way to the woodchip stepup:

Pavel has put together a nice vid of the day:

On the way down, through cellular magic, I spoke to Dirty, letting him know that I was sure to see his arch-nemesis, and what message should I deliver.  He claimed to have just podiumed at a race in CA (SS 29er) and is heading to St. George next weekend to ride, all-comers invited.  So, down in the parking lot,  I let Stacy know this and she was doubly surprised: 1. they have a class for those kind of bikes (no 26ers allowed?); 2. she also will be in St. George next weekend, for a wedding, and will be bringing her all-mountain bike.  So Dirty, here you go:

Jackson Hole Send(off)ing

Well if you haven't been to Jackson Hole recently, and I hadn't, you really ought to go.  In addition to the general northern Rockies beauty, the folks at Teton Freedom Riders have been doing the hard work of making super sick free ride trails. But first we had other obligations.  You see, our friend Dusty is getting ready to make the make the leap with the wonderful K....  We had to celebrate the event as guys like us do.  First a long drive (Bunny at the wheel):

 To a beautiful campsite off of Teton Pass:

Combined, we had many big bikes:

And, a few more svelte ones:

We stopped by the Jackson Hole Resort's new freeride park which was FREE and fun but the lines were long and no shade.  Lot's of happy riders out:

Thanks largely to efforts of Jorino and Mo, we ate like kings.  Even the locals treated us royally by dropping off a fresh batch of fire scar morels:

Here's a camp food innovation I'd never tried, boil in bag omlettes (double bag it):

Rather than fried, the eggs are poached, creating a velvety soft texture. Yum.  Great sunsets.

A fireside party.

Nighttime danger: 5 gallons of boiling hot oil in the middle of a beetle-eaten forest, what could go wrong?

In Mo's capable and experienced hands, nothing.  Do not do this with a frozen turkey. Oh yeah, we rode crazy banked and gappy jump trails.  Only Tyler was able to put together every move, props!  We didn't stop much for pics, here are a few:

                                                                    Pic by Chowder, Rider-Fahzure
This rock drop doesn't look all that big:

                                          Pic by Dusty, Rider-Fahzure
 Until you put Bunny in for scale:

                                          Pic by Dusty, rider-Tyson
We happily sent Dusty down the trail of partnership, which we're sure will entail just as many fun and difficult twists and turns as Fuzzy Bunny, Jimmy's Mom and Parallel.  You two rip it up!  Since we didn't stop much for pics or vid, here's one from Utah ripper Eric Porter on the same trails:


Riding Teton Pass with Eric Porter from justin olsen on Vimeo.

Trailside Park-Rip it!

So, Park City, Snyderville Basin, Bob Radke, Progressive Trail Design and so many others have gotten together to create a mini ripper park at Trailside.

There's a kids/beginners course which features smaller moves and a smaller grunt for little folks:

And even littler folks:

The real action is on the mile-long skills trail, a downhill, but pedally collection of jumps and berms.  There were many attempts at sending, even though the course was a bit slow/flat and smallish.  The big wooden bank got everybody's attention. Tyson sending it:

Fahzure had to get some too! Send it!

Photo by Tyson G.

Of course, all the stars came out:

Eric Porter

Eric Porter out riding a snappy 4in. travel knucklebox bike.

Josh Bender

Josh Bender out and workin' the ladies. He was ridin' an Ellsworth 29er and an air sprung slopestylish bike.

Ali Goulet

Multi-renisance man Ali Goulet reppin' Giro et al.

Patrick's arm with this bike and saddle.  Somebody say somethin'.

Photo by Tyson G.

Most impressive, though, was this gal who ripped it all day long.

You heard it here: This type of  park is the future of the sport. Proof.

On the way home I ran into this guy:

Cyclists are not impressed.