Rig

....a heafty 21 lbs as pictured.

The specs are close to a stock 9.9 (full XX suite) except a few personal touches:

• Wheels were rebuilt with some aerolite spokes and DT 190 hubs (Thanks Tyson!) - a little lighter
• Swapped Fox RL fork with RLC - set it and forget it is my MO
• SLR Gelflow XC saddle - on all my bikes, even my roady...it fits my butt well
• Bontrager XXX lite riser - I have raced on this bar for 4 years now...nothing wrong with the stock bar, but I didn't want to change.
• Tires - oooooo, lots to say here. I will be running some combination of Bontrager XR0, XR1, XR2, and occasionally the MudX. Right now I am thinking XR0 2.1" rear and XR1 2.2" front. I am excited to be trying some new rubber and Bonti has really stepped up last year and this year w/ new treads and super supple casings. More to come on this when I actually get to put them through their paces.
• Road bar tape wrap for grips - can't beat it IMO
• Twin Ti egg beater pedals - I don't trust Ti spindles... the twin Ti has a CroMoly steel spindle
• Bontrager RXL Shoes - ok not part of the bike but still critical. After trying them side by side with Shimano's top shoe these win hands down. I can't put my finger on why, but the power transfer is better.

Thanks to Trek for the sweet ride and accommodating my personal touches, and more to come on the Trek Mountain Bike Coop Team. We will be hosting a facebook page as our primary media portal, but I still plan to keep this blog chugging along.

Pink Floyd "butts" poster in the background courtesy of my lovely wife (although she will only let me put it up in my mancave=)

Mancave Chaos

Specs and weights will follow for the new rig. Suffice it to say, it is lighter and sweeter than last year...I didn't know that was possible.
Oh, and the training? I think that is coming along nicely.

Pugfest Video

Cool video of Pugfest put together by Sue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvPlqAIuhqo

If you don't have a pug, I bet you want one now!

Pugfest '10

There was a whole lot of phat going on up at Hillside last Sunday....Rich and his volunteers put on an awesome event as they always do. Thanks!

Racing a 33 pound 4" tire rigid bike on snowy singletrack is new to these legs this year, and the challenge will keep me coming back next winter for sure=)

And while Pug racing season is over, the watt gobbling season of 2lb Nokian studs and 4" fatties isn't even close to done! In fact, I just had Nokian-driven near bonk experience commuting this morning...

14 mile skinny

Winter blogging laziness is in full effect.

Update: I've been daddying, riding, playing hockey, and recovering/relaxing when I can. The focus lately has been on teaching Tegan how to skate=)

I did spend the last couple Sundays racing up at Elk River. The first weekend was spent on the 4" fatties pedaling through mashed potatoes. It was definitely the toughest conditions I have pugged in, and maybe ever ridden in period, given the collective set of skills required to keep the bike moving. Rich (Ohmdahl the race director) always has a smile on his face, but that day a massive bonk proved to be and effective smile-eraser...that is, until he got his post race Red Bull and hotdog down=).
The second weekend race was 2 laps on a regular bike. The conditions were just about as good as snow singletrack can get. After a scrum of a start and some recovery redlining, I had a blast riding what equated to a 18-inch wide 14-mile long twisty turny up and down skinny.

Next: Pugfest....

January Motivation

Casey Devin Moore

Casey is here! She is such a cute little peanut=) I think we will get to go home in a few ours, and we (she and I) are going to take the pugsley with the burley ski attachment. Just kidding, but how awesome would that be? That said, I did ride the pug to her delivery (long story, but trust me, it was the logical choice).
Now that we have 2 grandchildren who need to see Gramma and Grampa a lot, we may have find more reasons to make the trek home to Roch. Here is a good one: Alamanzo. Maybe I can get Fisher, the O's and some others to come down and play on the Rochester gravel. Can it be won on a dual suspension 26" bike? Oh, in other news, I will likely have the opportunity to race for a new team this year. More to come later on that.

The Bank of Pain And Suffering

To steal one from Bobke: I have made some hefty deposits lately. Bonksville, population me.

Jen is preparing to make the mother of all deposits soon....

'Tis the Season

For 3 PSI

I am so confusing now....

As one of my good Asian friends said to me one morning, "Brendan, I am so confusing now."

Is anyone else so confusing about this?
http://singletrack.competitor.com/2009/12/news/usa-cycling-forging-on-with-pro-xct-series_4925

IMO, this is probably why grass roots /local racing and endurance mtbk racing has become more popular here in the US. I am not complaining at all because I love the way our local series (WORS and MNSCS specifically) and one day races are run in the Midwest. Maybe this is how mtbk racing is supposed to be.