Halloween Night Ride 2008

Project Seven v0.2

Theme: Plain Black&White

Fork: Fox F100 RLC (white) or Vicious rigid steel (black)
Crankset: Middleburn RS7 singlespeed square taper crankset
Bottom Bracket: Raceface taper lock
Wheelset: Paul/Mavic 819 wheels with ENO freewheel or Cane Creek Zonos with King SS cog
Tires: Continental Vertical 2.3 tubeless
Brakes: Avid BB7 calipers and ultimate levers
Stem: Thomson
Seatpost: Thomson
Handlebars: Easton Monkeylite
Saddle: WTB Rocket V or Fizik Arione
*Chain: SRAM 8 speed
*Pedals: Time ATAC XS
*Grips: Oury
*Headset: Chris King

*final decision

White Industries Chainring

kinda soft, isn't it? It's still rideable, so I'll see how long it'll last.

And I can always put on this spare ring...

Snapped Derailleur

Date: 10/2/2008
Location: Gambrill Yellow
Suspect: a six-inch long, thumb-thick stick
Damage: see picture
Conclusion: nature builds stronger carbon stuff.

p.s. singlespeed full suspension is weird.

The Last 1000 Miles

Here is the breakdown of the last 1000 miles of MTB I did:

Totals
Number of rides: 50
Months: 4
Hours on trail: 153

Averages:
Average mileage per month: 250
Average mileage per ride: 20

By Location
Frederick: 34% in mileage, 42% in hours
MoCo: 56% in mileage, 48% in hours
Stokesville: 10% in mileage, 10% in hours

By Bike
Full suspension: 30% in mileage, 40% in hours
Single speed: 70% in mileage, 60% in hours

US Olympic Cyclists in Beijing

The latest Dirtrag magazine (issue 138) had a article by Adam Craig, member of the US Olympic Mountain Bike Team, talking about his experience in the Beijing 2008 Games. On the training and air quality, he wrote:

"The overall "Games Experience" was pretty awesome though...if a bit hard to soak in during the four short days we spent in the village. We agreed, as the U.S. Mountain Bike Team, to train in Korea to avoid the possibility of challenging training conditions and poor air quality in Beijing. Turns out that, through a combination of aggressive pollutant control and natural rainfall, the air was fine. And Mike Broderick found some good riding in the "Fragrant Hills" just west of the city, so we could realistically have just come to the Olympic Village a week out and done our prep there."

Earlier before the Games, some of the US Olympic Cyclists arrived Beijing Airport wearing masks, and then quickly apologized to the host country.

There was a new twist developed: the masked cyclists wanted an apology from USOC.

*Fragrant Hills - 香山
*Image Credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Beijingbluesky.jpg

Agkistrodon contortrix

a.k.a. copperhead.

Saw one in the group ride in Little Bennett today. The brownish snake was laying in the middle of the Kingsley road, steady like a sculpture. While we were debating whether or not it was dead, I threw a small stone at it. Sure enough the head moved a little. The poor ectothermal guy was probably too cold to move, and might have to stay there till sunrise tomorrow.

No picture was taken.

Second venomous snake in a week.