Day: January 20, 2009

Uphill and Upwind

/ chollaball / Leave a comment

G bonked so hard!   She went from wild to mild in less than a minute.   Every biker knows the dreaded feeling, and its the same no matter what your skill level, but to see it play out right in front of me in hurry-up realtime was a treat!   I was tempted to let it go on, but I never had the chance to be that cruel she went to so totally helpless so quickly.   I only wish my vid got the first 30 seconds when she was yelling “I’m strong! I’m using my muscles!”

We began with some spirited Hide & Seek.   G does not have the hiding and the seeking sorted out yet.   I’m not sure what she thinks, excpet that whatever she tells me to do, if I do the opposite she is happy.   I think there is some overlap between “counting” and “seeking” that is not clear to her.

hiding

seeking

Then she wanted to ride her bike to the Supermarket (aka – the church). She sailed down the hill, and I knew the climb back would be tough. Then we saw a lot of cars in the parking lot, in broad daylight, with Kila…I decided to put an end to this, right about where the sand stopped all her momentum in the church parking lot. *grumble grumble*. great idea chollaball!

She fought her way back to the sidewalk, and then sprinted for about 23 seconds. Then it hit.   Oof.

New (old) truck

/ beckie / Leave a comment

So due to soon-to- be larger family ect, ect, we did the unthinkable and sold the old truck before we actually drove it into the ground as planned.   To our surpise, said old piece-of-shit truck fixed up real nice-like and with the help of a very detailed post on craigslist and a $120 detailing, sold in a day for waaaay more than I thought a POS 8 yr old Ford could possibly bring.   Yaay.   (more on this)

After living truck-less for a few months, during which time we actually voted democratic (gasp)    in a major election, we decided we must be losing our American-red state  tendencies, so it was either replace the truck or move to France (or California).   So we went truck shopping.   And maybe to make sure that we never speak of a domicile in France again, we began shopping for a BIG truck.

Enter F150 crew cab 4×4.   In my opinion this is a BIG truck.   I will not be able to get in this vehicle wearing a short skirt without giving someone a thrill.   It has a step to help with the climb, but it’s still quite the workout getting into this thing.   It has a full size cab and space in front for 3 comfortably, then three more in back.   This thing is huge.   The shocking thing about the hugeness of this vehicle, is that it’s not the biggest truck you can get.   In fact, the F-150 is more of a mid-sized truck, as far as truck affectionados are concerned.   This blows my mind.

Anywhoo, after much trolling over Craigslist and Autotrader and a few promising leads that turned out too wierd or too good to be true….

Jason:   “Why is this car so cheap?”

Random person 1:   “We found it at the airport”

Jason:   “Umm.. ok.” Click.

Jason:   “Why is this car so cheap?”

Random person 2:   “It’s an alternative fuel vehicle….has a propane tank where the spare tire would go”

Jason:   “Where do you keep the spare?”

Random person 2: “Oh, we just toss it in the bed”

Jason:   “Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of having a bed”

Random person 2: “You voted for Obama didn’t you?” Click.

….we found a promising lead at a dealer.   2002, not tan or white (my most hated colors), no leather but interior in great condition, everything else we want, only 96k miles…about the same as the old truck.   Jason talks the dealer down a little bit and suddlenly the dealer price is competitive with private party plus we get some peace of mind that the seller isn’t a fruit loop.   Done.   Yaay.

So the funny part of this story is that G LOVES the new truck.   It’s true that she liked and mourned the loss of the old truck for awhile, occasionally asking what happened to it, but mostly handling the loss as well as could be expected from someone that doesn’t understand the concept of money or care about legroom.

As soon as we brought home the new truck she immediately began asking to go for rides in it.   We go to the gym on weekends and it’s “can we take the truck?” or to the park..”can we take the truck?”   Amazingly, she can get into it by herself (takes some hand-over-hand climbing, and she probably should be  wearing a safety harness,  but she manages).   The real fun begins after we pull out of the driveway.   She “oohs” and “ahs” and comments on the trip “the new truck only goes slow” (this on the way to the park as we trundle through the 25 mph neighborhood streets) or “Whee! the truck is going so fast!” as we accelerate onto a highway.   Or “I can see EVERYTHING!”   (True, it does have better visibility than the Prius).   Oh yeah, and God forbid you have the bad taste to refer to the truck as a car.   G will remind you, in no uncertain terms, that “it’s not a car, it’s a TRUCK.”   Stupid mommy.

So the inevitable question:   nature or nurture?   is the American love affair with the truck innate?   I say yes.   We can’t help ourselves.   We love the power and feeling of invincibility that comes with the earth-destroyer.   Maybe Detroit isn’t in as much trouble as we think.   G will be ready  for her first car truck  in only 13 years.

Niner Twin Powers Activate

/ chollaball / 3 Comments

It is happening!

I did not expect to be looking til next fall, but Beckie came back from an unexpected group ride with the Luna Chix and was chirping about us needing a new bike after she is pregnant, and said my my that would coincide with your birthday.   Who am I to argue?

She never did like the Blur much.   And I am so tired of its creaking and the same things that need the same maintenance so many times over and over and over again.   I’m just tired of it. Then I get on it and it feels so nice all over again.   I just bought some replacement bb cups, which should smooth it out some for the Quad Bypass next week.   But then something else will break and i will be fixing it too for the 2nd or 3rd or 20th time.   I’m just tired of it.

I know I want a 29er.   Which is odd, since up til last week I’d never ridden a 29er.   But so many people can’t be wrong, unless they are electing George Bush.   They’re here, they’re queer, but the kinks are out.   Its a better fit for long XC and enduro.   I’m not sold on 29ers for big tech riding, or more accurately, I haven’t seen enough other people kick my ass on em to want one.   But most of the enduro riders I know ride 29ers, the rolling just seems to go on and on and on easier, and I’ve seen JB just smoke me without working much harder on XC since he got his Moots 29er.

JB and Chongo both handle some pretty impressive tech stuff on their “light” builds too.   The notion being that the big wheels give you effectively another inch of travel.   Which has actually caused me some confusion.   I want a 4 inch FS bike that will be fast, but not racing fast, more enduro fast.   But still quick enough to not be a boat anchor.   Several of the popular bikes in this category like the Turner Sultan or RIP Niner are trying to be The One bike for light AM.   I hear their lure, I want to be able to ride rough stuff over the course of a long day.   But I really don’t want something that is closer to the Heckler than the Blur; I want something like the Blur, but with a little more attitude on rocks.   Not like I cant handle things on the Blur – I kinda want to take it out on National and Pass Mountain to get over my fear of it and see what a year and a half of AM riding on the Heckler has really done for me on the Blur – but why would I want to do something foolish like that when I have a burly 6 inch bike to ride?  

Details, money will be spent, how hard will this be?   Though I thought that with the Heckler, this is going to be a lot less hard.   I know much more what I want, how it will mostly be built, and about the cost.   It will be fun! Peter at Rage said he could build this kit in his sleep, and kinda so could i.   Its nice to not be intimidated by it.   Now I just need to pick the right bike.   Current leading candidates are an ’08 RIP Niner (lighter build than the 09), or a Salsa Big Mama.