stars aligned?

Sometimes the stars align and you can actually work and play at the same time. Sometimes the stars just seem to be aligned but are actually askew; today was such a case.

A potential client in Arkansas City, KS called and asked me to give a presentation today so I of course jumped at the chance to acquire the business AND get a free trip to Camp Horizon. Not that anyone cares but the business end of the trip went well and the ride part of the trip went not-so-well. For more on the trail click this: Camp Horizon or this: KS Single Track Society I'm telling you this thing is a beauty and just when I felt I was getting my groove on I pinch flatted the rear. After a quick pit stop it was back on the trail and once again really lovin' this piece of land; until mile marker 4, which is where flat numero dos occurred, this time on the front from a sticker. So in 4 miles and one hour I've had two flats; I'm now out of tubes and CO2 cartridges, but with a glee me and the SS trudge on undaunted until...mile marker 5! Another fucking sticker and another fucking flat so now the ride includes a walk back to the car. Thankfully it was only a two mile hike and I must say ol' chap that the weather was beautiful for a hike today. I think the most amazing thing out of all the flats is that they all happened within eye sight of mile marker signs.

Now I'll tell a little on myself here; you see I'm not the most religious guy around; but goddammit I'm proud of these fucking Methodists and what they've done with this kickass piece of land and trail, to find out more about their attempt to ruin our youth and breed more tightass conservatives you can read more about them here: http://www.horizoncenter.org/ Remember to go for the trails but stay for the rapture! (Also, take a few $$$ and donate it to the trail upkeep kitty.)

New bike project: Mr. Stans will be meeting Ms. Fixation this weekend; here's to a long and loving relationship.

okie style sleddin'

What do you do when you've got a killer sled, no hills, and some desire? Well when you've also got a couple o' cool bikes laying around you just pull the sled; duh!

For once I think the pic's do a ride justice; as you can tell the street is solid ice. It took all my ninja reflexes to ride up that small incline while pulling a 50 lb. kid and to make myself clear; there were no clipless shoes involved. (Way too chicken shit for that.)

FF SS=....?

FF SS=Flagrant Finaglers Spit Shined?
FF SS=Foul Farters Shit Shrine?
FF SS=Flippin' Funky Super Stoked?
FF SS=Fat Fuckers Super Slow?
FF SS=Fetish Fixation Single Speed!
Here she is:

Here's the build on the FF SS:

Frame: Fetish Fixation
Fork: Rock Shox Reba U-Turn w/Poploc
Rims/Hubs: Sun SOS
Brakes: Avid Mechanical
Tires: Continental Survival Pro’s
Cranks: Bontrager Big Earl
Cog: Surly
Chain: KMC Z Chain
Stem/Seatpost: Thomson
Bars: Answer Pro Taper
Brake levers: Shimano XT*
*Formerly XT w/shifter pods; pods were ground off

I've had her finished for a couple of weeks now and I've been flogging the dog piss out of her. To be honest I wasn't 100% sure just how much I'd like to ride SS but the thought and simplicity of having a bike like this just seemed to make too much sense and to be too cool; especially given my despise of broken/mangled/mal-adjusted derailleurs. It's not a true "hardcore" SS since it's got a suspension fork on it, but for those that insist that a true SS must be rigid...bite me. I've got about 12 hours of trail riding on her and about 5 hours of urban riding and I can't put my finger on exactly what it is but I'm digging it. The poor Heckler has just been hanging there sadly. Not that I haven't ridden her it's just been too much fun riding the new bike. And when I did ride the Heckler the shock let me know that she needs some factory lovin'; so I'll be sending it off for a little TLC and a not so extreme makeover. Most of the parts for this bike came off of eBay, a few came from stuff laying around, a few off the Heckler, (which got upgraded with eBay goodies), and a few from the LBS. (See T-Town link on the sidebar.)

While I could go on and on about the trail rides I'll spare y'all this time. I will say this though; I've had a complete and utter blast the last two rides ridin' with my new trail homie; Ralphie! This energetic fuck is just laying around today totally spent with a little limp to his giddy'up. I'm pretty sure he crashed on the lip buster descent; sorry I didn't get to see it, but then again David didn't get to see it when I ate shit on it either.

Lovin' this ride makes owning one of these a distinct possibility:

Steel+29'er+SS at only $495! Schaawiiinnggg!