Had the most fun on my simplest bike yesterday. The ETSU DS was about the most fun I have had on a bike in quite some time. I have to admit though I was not looking forward my first race of the season. Really the only reason I went was I expected it to rain and I really wanted some kind of exercise. At least I’d force myself to race in the rain. But to my surprise it was sunny and great dirt. The DH is an all out sprint and I have never done very well there. Again a mediocre 4th place finish. The real fun was the $5 DS race. This was to be my first DS race and I didn’t expect much. But I qualified 3rd and made it to the cancellation round. With a by and my qualifying run I ended up doing 9 runs. By the end I was fried and crashed twice pretty darn good. The course was so simple but loads of fun. Plus I did some dirt jumping and I really miss that.

So, in the past I used to ride with my seat low. I was aggressive and loved cornering. As time went by somehow I started pushing my seat higher and higher and before I knew it I was riding full on XC. Only Chris Herndon and Geritt Beytagh can full on DH a trail bike with the seat all jacked up. However I’m not really sure how this happened but something had to change and my Specialized buddy Chris Wyatt lent me this.

This makes trail riding fun again.

It seems I have my best rides when I go into the trails with nothing but my bike, helmet, gloves, and a mp3 player. Last night was all Metallica, Rage, Cult, and Lords of Acid. I was ripping from turn to turn and I was having fun. I pinned a few sections better the other night, but some of the turns tonight were flawless. Plus I had power to spare and wasn’t all winded.

My plans are for a moto ride on Wednesday and probably another trail ride on Thursday. I had planed on doing the ETSU races this weekend but at the last minute they got USAC sanctioning and without a license I’ll probably stick close and moto. Maybe I’ll try out some new mud tires at Windrock.

Good thing Kenan is a doctor. Diagnosis… Dislocated shoulder.

Rule # 32 of Holding it Wide

“When you are able, capable and willing to throw down dance movies in the proper setting you must act without hesitation. Simply cut the rug.”

So after 12 hr work day on Wednesday I was dying to get on some kind of two wheeled action yesterday. I got home and decided to ride my bike down to Haw from the house. Doing this isn’t bad at all and it even lets me hit the trails all warmed up. I am still trying to get “back up to speed” on my trail bike after so much moto lately. Part of the problem is the Cane Creek Double Barrel shocks I have been riding. Those things offer TOO much traction and at times its hard to get the bike to turn because the rear wheel is so glued. Well, I have been playing with my settings to help the rear end come around in turns and last night I found a majic spot. I am running more LSC and less LSR than suggested to get a little bit of a skippy action. But it allows the rear to break free and I can push it around to help square up in the turns. But in typical Double Barrel fashion its real smooth and very controllable. Well anyway I hit up this little natural step down as I trail crosses Red Hill and I had the best two wheel drift coming down Rainbow. As I felt the front start to push I pushed a little harder on the rear and was able to bring the front back under me. The amazing thing is that these movements are measured in millimeters and require very good use of independent braking techniques. All in all it was a good and rewarding ride.