Road rash? Bruises? Scrapes? If you mountain bike then you probably have a few good crash stories yourself. I’ve probably got more crash stories than the average lady out there. Some may say that perhaps I should work on my technical skills, but I’d like to think I just ride pretty dang hard and fast out there!

Injuries comes with the territory. I would consider mountain biking to be a pretty extreme sport. Cliffs, rocks, sharp branches..even an occasional mountain lion. Someone is bound to get hurt out on the trails! It’s part of the excitement though! Even all the accidents we avoid – each time we nearly miss an OTB or feel our back tire wiping out on us, our hearts pound, and our blood rushes. We give thanks and can’t wait to tell our buddy about the disaster we just avoided. It’s just part of the fun.

Then there’s those times we just can’t do anything to avoid our mishaps. Sometimes we don’t have time to think anything other than “Oh, this is not going to be good, oh SHHhhhhh” – Shoot. I was going to say shoot!
If you’re lucky you were able to bail on the bike and tuck and roll. Some of us aren’t so lucky though. I had a nasty spill at the Super D race myself this past weekend. I really don’t remember how it happened. Bike hit rock..bike didn’t roll over rock. Bike bounces off rock and then I was like a dead fish on the ground. This would be the latest in a long list of war wounds. What can I say, I like to document my body with all of my accomplishments. HA! Maybe I should just get a tattoo! ;D

I have to say I find boo boos and crashes quite entertaining. They are like car wrecks. I can’t help but want to look, and I think there’s something to be said about banging up your body like that and living to tell about it. You know you like to see the bruises and scrapes! When you’re buddy tells you about their injury, the first thing you say is “I wanna see!”

An oldie but goodie! Racing in Bonelli. March 2008

Now I don’t mean to take injuries lightly. I know there are some that are much worse than others. But if you’ve had a boo boo from a bad fall- and you took pics, then I’d like to see em!

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So the other day I went for a solo ride out at Chino Hills Park. I was in need of some good climbing and Northridge never disappoints. I was sitting at a bench before my 2nd lap, chomping on my banana, when a group of riders stopped nearby and I couldn’t help but listen in on their conversation.

There were about six riders finishing up their ride and they were talking about their big plans. They were discussing how cool it would be to get some jerseys made. They mentioned something about their website and how they want to start collecting membership dues from people who sign up with them. They all agreed it would be a great idea to make everyone pay x amount of dollars yearly to help fund some of their activities.

When I heard this my jaw dropped! Charge people to come mountain bike with me??? Really??? Do people really pay others for some friendship on the trails?! In all my years I’ve never thought to charge anyone to go mountain biking. I’ve been mountain biking consistently for almost four years now and we’ve met so many people out on the trails. Man, if I had collected a buck from every guy we’ve ridden with I probably wouldn’t have to work anymore!

Actually, this wasn’t the first time I have heard of something like this though. A year ago a friend of mine invited me along for an epic ride with some other people. She gave me a link to the site with all the information but if I wanted to join in on more rides then I’d have to pay the membership dues to join. It was about 40 bucks a year to connect with other mountain bikers and meet up with them for the rides. Needless to say I never joined them for another ride.

I suppose it’s hard for some people to find others to ride with, but I don’t think it’s something so far out of reach that it needs to be paid for. Nowadays we have so many forums available to us or even sites like our own to connect with others. Shoot, just show up at a trail and your bound to run into someone, right?

So this brings me back to appreciate what we’ve created here at MtnBikeRiders.com. We’re just a bunch of peeps that enjoy riding and enjoy sharing that with others. The invitation is always extended for others to come enjoy a trail with us and we won’t charge you. Actually I think that’s how many of us came to meet each other.

RL and Moe met through a forum….a bike forum of course! And as far as I know, there was NO money exchanged for the rides! Bike rides I mean. Okay. We can go in so many directions with this, but I’ll stop there! Joking!!!

Now don’t get me wrong. I know there are events to be funded, etc. In that case find something to sell. Sell some t-shirts or socks or something! Have a raffle. There’s lots of ways to raise money, but don’t charge a buddy to go ride, it just ain’t right!!!

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One of the best things about Interbike is the swag from the exhibitors.   Handsome Bicycles was giving out a saddle cover with an image of Michael Jackson from the Thriller album cover.  It’s made by Serfas, model SCB-1.  I’m not sure if these a limited edition, but feel free to check with Serfas at www.serfas.com.

Now Michael Jackson fans can take him along wherever they ride

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Interbike is really amazing. Walking through the isles of exhibitors you get to see the latest and greatest. At the same time you see the entire spectrum of the cycling world. With that said, there is a bike for everyone!

One of the things that caught my eye is this bike from overseas… it really stopped me dead on my tracks! Could this be a bike for Moe?

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Fresh from a warranty vacation with a fresh rear triangle -

We can rebuild him, we can make him better….

My Intense Tracer, awaiting a rebuild this weekend, along with a new Crank Bros Joplin R.  This is now my “light” bike, a Titus El Guapo serves as my “big” bike and the KHS Lucky 7 is the “DH/Shuttle” bike.  It’s official, I’m addicted.  I can’t wait to ride the Tracer again, it’s been just under a month, but felt like forever!

Share your story, what bike/component has had you stoked like a kid at Christmas?  Was it something you had ordered and were waiting for in the mail?  An ebay find that took forever to arrive?  A new product you anxiously awaited for it to come to market?  Isn’t it amazing how one new component can make you eagerly await a ride you’ve done a hundred times?

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So I was perusing through the STR* forums and found a thread titled Tapered Head Tubes – Debate.

[*STR = So Cal Trail Riders, my handle, dwsand3r]

I went ahead and threw my two cents in and decided to share my response here, but I added a sketch for extra dork points!

“Most of the force from your fork (a really long lever arm*) is dispersed into the lower headset cup. That is why the lower is 1.5″.

Note: for all the engineering types, I did not show all forces, nor did I balance these forces.  This is not an accurate free body diagram, just a quick conceptual sketch.

Remember many years ago, just before the switch to the 1.125″ standard, how common it was for a frame and/or lower headset cups to fail. The remedy was to move onto thread-less oversize (1.125″) headsets & steerer tubes. This also was during the time frame when 100mm of fork travel was huge and a 2 foot drop was gnarly! Also the fork was a pretty weak, noodle like member.

Most bikes offering the 1.5″ or tapered head tubes are designed for 140mm+ travel forks (even longer lever arm, that is why you’ll void many warranties by running a fork longer than the manufacturer specifies*), the forks are incredibly stiff (35+mm stanchions), and a 6 foot drop won’t even get you a photo in your friend’s blog.

The 1.125″ standard is fine for XC and 90% of trail riders out there.

The 1.5″ and/or tapered is a great thing for the rest of us. That is why 1.5″ stems are only available in shorter lengths. It is assumed if you’re running 1.5″ you’re a free rider or D/H and you’re running a short stem.

*lever arm : imagine if you were to put a pipe in your bike’s head tube and then pulled on the pipe in an attempt to break the head tube off the frame. It be a lot easier to do with a longer pipe than a short one.

“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” – Archimedes”

Comment with what you think, should the whole industry go to 1.5″?  Should 1.5″ be abolished?  Is taper the ultimate middle ground?

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Only Tuesday however it feels like a long week already for me.  Earlier this afternoon I went for ride at Santiago Oaks in Orange, CA to relieve some stress.  It was pretty warm so I wore my favorite MtnBikeRiders sleeveless jersey.  The ride was nothing out of the ordinary; Santiago Oaks was a great as usual!

The ride made me feel better.  As I packed my gear and left, I had that nagging feeling that I forgot something.  When I arrived at my house I began to unpack my gear.  Everything was accounted for except for my jersey.  I rummaged through my car and no luck.  Man I was bummed…

Never had I forgotten any of my gear, packing up after a ride.  I’ve forgotten things before a ride, like my shoes and ended up riding in my Crocs, but I’ve always been good getting my things together.

I quickly took a shower, jumped on my motorcycle and headed back to the parking lot.  I wish I had a camera.  When I arrived at the parking lot, I saw my jersey hanging on a tree branch, next to where I had parked. 

I recall as I left the parking lot that there were a big group of riders getting ready to ride.  This parking lot is typically filled with mountain bikers in the afternoon as it’s a popular after-work ride.

I just want to give a BIG THANKS to whomever left my jersey on the tree.  No doubt it was fellow mountain biker and they knew I would be coming back for it.  After all it’s a limited edition jersey

Thanks again!

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Exciting news from USA Today:

Now Google Maps is expanding to biking and hiking trails. A Google employee on a tricycle rides around to snap the same wide-area views.

“Much of the world is inaccessible to the car,” says Daniel Ratner, a Google senior engineer who designed the trike. “We want to get access to places people find important.”

Starting out with 1 trail in Monterey

The project just got underway. So far, only a bike trail in Monterey, Calif., is up and running. Google has cyclists out now in California, Italy and the United Kingdom. The company says to look for hiking and biking images from those locations over the summer — along with shots from U.S. theme parks. Google won’t say which ones.

The addition of biking and hiking trails to Street View is a smooth marketing move, he says. “I see Google saying, ‘You’re freaked out by Street View, well, look at this. What’s not to like about biking and hiking trails?’ It makes the whole project now seem warm and fuzzy.”

Ratner’s trike is a modified three-wheeled bike, like the ones used to take tourists for a spin, with a huge antenna and camera on back. It looks so different from a normal bike that when people see him, they ask, ” ‘Is that a Google robot?’ ” Ratner says.

This is great for bike commuters or trail users.  To read the entire article, click on this link http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-06-09-biking-maps-google_N.htm

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Private party transactions are usually the best way to get the cheapest deal. Craigslist, mtbr or ebay are common places to complete these transactions. The tradeoff for the lower price is a brick and mortar, or even online, store standing behind their product.

Over the past few years I have had my share of bad transactions. Usually it is not the fault of the seller but the product might have some small issue with it. Without a store to return the product to sometimes you can feel stuck with something that isn’t working quite right. When this happens it is always best to contact the manufacturer.

Manufacturers have a reputation to maintain. They want the riders on their products to be happy with what they bought and to use their product as it was designed. The manufacturers definitely don’t want the rider to get on mtbr or another board and rail about how their product sucks. A couple of people like that and product sales will drop.

An example of this is when I bought a pair of running shoes from a nearby Sports Chalet. I needed a new pair of shoes for an upcoming trip I was going on. I wore the shoes briefly once before the the vacation so when I was on vacation I made an interesting discovery. The black shoe had a black tongue that would slide around even when I tied the shoes on tight. After a few minutes with them on, my white socks would start peaking out and look quite silly.

Since I had gone on vacation with it, Sports Chalet wouldn’t accept it back because it was not in “like new” condition. Understandable. One quick email to the manufacturer explaining my issue and the manufacturer OK’d me to return the shoe to them and they sent me a new one, of my choice, within two weeks.

Another time, I purchased a seatpost from a seller on a local forum. The seatpost seemed to have been crushed a little as I could not get it to stay tight on my frame. This was the correct sized seatpost because I compared it to the seatpost I replaced it with. An email to the manufacturer with an explanation led to a few follow up emails before the manufacturer asked for the seatpost back and a new seatpost was sent to me.

In my limited experience, it is best to be clear, concise and level headed. SHOUTING or cursing doesn’t get very far. You can offer a solution or, what seems to work even better, ask politely: What can be done to fix this issue? By the way, I don’t know I have also found that honesty is the best policy. If the manufacturer asks if it was purchased second hand my honest answer has not deterred the manufacturer from standing behind their product.

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For those of you attending Sea Otter, be on the lookout for the Evomo, Tifosi & Titec $500 giveaway.

Click to make big!

The $500+ MTB Trifecta Prize Package includes:
Titec Hellbent Carbon bar 1.5
Titec Hellbent RIP prolite stem
Titec Hellbent expert saddle
Titec loc-on grip
Titec Hellbent Duke post
Tifosi Helo Sunglasses (gunmetal)
Tifosi Dolomite Sunglasses (black)
Evomo Flexfit Team Cap
Evomo Glock Team Jersey
Evomo Ranger T-shirt
Evomo Rukus International T-shirt

Titec’s Hellbent group of all-mountain control components is the perfect blend of lightweight durability.

Tifosi brings the fashionable yet functional eye wear including the Dolomite which includes interchangeable lenses for various riding conditions.

Evomo rounds out the Trifecta Prize Pack with the infamous Official Evomo Team Jersey, Team Cap and Evomo brand t-shirts so you can continue to bring some rukus when you’re not on the bike.

To enter the drawing, stop by the Evomo Rider Lounge, Titec or Tifosi booths during the 4 day Sea Otter event to and enter your name to win. No purchase is necessary. One winner will be selected at random.

By the way, if you’re at Sea Otter, you HAVE to stop by the Evomo Rider Lounge. Last year, the place was rocking. This year the Evomo guys are one upping themselves. Their booth will include music, foosball and of course a comfortable place to sit and store your bike.

Where else could you find stylin white couches at SO?

For more info, click here.

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