Thursday, July 31st, 2008
I should be sleeping but I had to post my weekend plans before I drive away at 3 AM.
Drive 3h 37m using highways 405, 5, 14, 395.
Arrive in Lone Pine at Eastern Sierra InterAgency Visitor Center to pickup Wilderness Permits at 7 AM at junction of highways US 395 & SR136 (1 mile south Lone Pine). Head to pancake breakfast in Lone Pine.
Drive backdown 395 to Olancha (21 miles), head west into the Sierra’s towards Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead. Begin hike 9 AM, Friday morning.
First night, South Fork Lakes.
Second night, Cottonwood Lakes.
Hike out on Sunday morning to Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead.
Photos will be up on Monday.
Matt Smart
outsideallday contributor
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
(Photo courtesy of KEN STEINHARDT at The Orange County Register)
A long time ago in a far away place I went to Journalism school. So now when I read headlines about boring newspapers cutting staff I get nostalgic. And then this morning I found this great article by Katherine Nguyen in the Orange County Register – that sadly doesn’t include our favorite bike shop – Rock N’ Road Cyclery, with four convenient locations in Orange County. Putting that aside this article discusses how people are picking the bike back up with the rise of gas prices. Click here to check it out.
Matt Smart
outsideallday contributor
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008
The latest Competitors Radio Show is up on their iTunes podcast and Web site. The topic: Johan Bruyneel. As you all know he was the team director and mastermind behind Lance Armstrong’s seven consecutive Tour de France titles.
Matt Smart
outsideallday contributor
Tuesday, July 29th, 2008
Product for Review:
Pivot, Mach 4
Size: Medium
Geometry: (100MM Fork)
Seat tube: 18.5″
Top Tube (effective): 23.25″
Head Tube: 4.5″
Head Angle: 70.8
Seat Tube Angle: 73
Chainstay: 16.75″
Bottom Bracket Height: 12.8
Stand Over Height: 29.5
Product Strengths:
Aesthetically (Its Looks): Amazing and the anodized finish is great on a mountain bike so one does not have to worry about paint chipping and little nicks that are always happening.
Rear suspension design- This bike has the stiffest rear suspension that I have felt in a four inch travel bike. I loved Chris Cocalis’ original creations, the Titus Racer-X and Moto Lite, but this bike is on a new level in comparison. This beefy rear suspension system allows a rider to really rail the bike in corners and ride much more aggressively than one would normally do on a four inch bike.
The rear suspension system used also allows the bike to stretch out/grip or grab the ground better from its dual pivot controls. This was the one of the best features that was noticed in comparison to the Titus, Racer-X. One can really climb and descend on this machine.
Direct Mount Front Deraileur- The Front derailleur mount used for this bike is also a plus as it creates one of the fastest and definitely the strongest shifting experiences on a mountain bike. The mount allows the derailleur a lot of backbone so that it gets its maximum potential because of the stiffness provided from the frame.
Integrated Bottom Bracket- The bottom bracket is stiff. It allows the bike to put out the most power possible with each pedal stroke and again help provide a nice solid base to the frame when turning and pushing down on the outward pedal.
Product Weaknesses:
Weight- If you are a weight weenie sorry but it’s on the heavy side. If the bike is being built for racing one might get frustrated with a bike that is 23-24lbs. This is about the average wight of our builds composed of Shimano XTR and Sram XO components, Stan’s No Tubes Wheelsets, and a lot of other expensive carbon/weight weenie junk.
However, if you think about the frame and how it comes with a front derailer, bottom bracket cups, and headset 6.14 lbs is not too heavy.
Similar Products Used:
Titus Racer-x (4″ travel)
Titus Motolite (5″ travel)
Pivot Mach 5 (5″ travel)
Pivot Mach 429
The Bottom Line:
The bike rips! It’s a 4inch bike on steroids… It can be ridden like a trail bike with its slack angles and fantastic suspension system.
Rating: 1-5
For more information go to: www.pivotcycles.com
-DSheek
This bike makes me love riding!
Tuesday, July 29th, 2008
American Mountain Classic Announces “Gas Relief” Entry Fee Incentive Program
Press Release
July 29, 2008:
Sho-Air Internationalis pleased to announce a “Go-Green” entry fee incentive/relief program for all
competitors in the American Mountain Classic Stage Race in Brian Head, UT set to run August 21-24.
In light of the recent escalating prices at the gas pump and the slowing economy, event title sponsor Sho- Air International is extending a rebate incentive program to all currently registered riders, plus any new rider who sign up for the event.
“Its no secret that prices at the pump and the sluggish economy makes traveling to the races more taxing on the wallet these days” reflects Sho-Air’s marketing director Ty Kady. “As a result of early entry’s exceeding expectations for an inaugural event, we want to give back to the person who wanted to race in America’s most prestigious MTB Stage Race, but was feeling the pinch in their pocket book. We hope that the $50 rebate can be spent towards gas or some other event related costs. We are also encouraging people to car pool with a friend, hence why we created a “buddy” rebate program for new registrants that sign up with a friend. Remember to Go-Green when ever possible!”
Effective July 29 through August 19th all currently registered athletes that get a new registrant to sign up for the American Mountain Classic will receive $50 refund on their entry fee, along with the new rider. Additionally any new rider who signs themselves and a friend up, who are not currently registered for the event, will each receive a $50 rebate off each their entry after proof of purchase.
To be eligible for the “Gas Relief” incentive program, all athletes must sign up on Sports Base Online at
the following link-https://www.sportsbaseonline.com/Item.aspx?item_id=2346.
Upon completing registration, all registrants who qualify should contact Ty Kady with their entry receipt
for a rebate access code. Ty can be reached at Ty@shoair.com or 800-227-9111.
Friday, July 25th, 2008
If you happened to pass the Portola Arby’s this morning then surely you would have heard two grown men laughing – all the way up the canyon. At six we dropped into the sand pit called Whiting Ranch and took two laps away from those who were still sleeping. Andy is getting my race tactics in shape for the Tinley Mountain Bike Tri.
I followed him through one lap of the newly minted racetrack and then he called me past him giving me ten yards. He caught me time and time again. But, I rode with reckless abandon. Now you see why we need to wake up so early. We would have bummed out the running crew. And quite frankly with all the mountain lion signs – they have more courage then I do – so we give ourselves a head start.
After two hours we headed over to Tully’s for some quality wakeup drinks. We covered Tour race tactics, OutsideAllDay, and I even got some coaching tips. Andy was in great form today – even at the coffee shop. The 100% compostable coffee cups are sweet.
Matt Smart
outsideallday contributor
Friday, July 25th, 2008
This Sunday, July 27 on the island of Molokai ocean paddlers will embark for Oahu. This 32-mile rough water race across the Kaiwi Channel that separates the Hawaiian islands of Molokai and Oahu, from Kaluakoi to Koko Head, is one of the top two paddling events in the world. This year will be the 12th Annual running of the QuiksilverEdition Molokai to Oahu Paddle Board Race.
The update that follows outlines how three of my friends are prepping for one of the most grueling races held in the ocean. It is written by Body Glove wetsuit staffer and South Bay ripper Matt Walls (photo courtesy of Body Glove).
Just wanted to drop a line from the Donkey House (our local South Bay, paddleboard crew) here in Hawaii Kai. We have been here for a few days now and are having a blast. Kyle and my trip started out great by volunteering to get bumped off our first two flights to Hawaii and we received $1400.00 each in travel vouchers and upgraded to first class on our third flight. Good times.
Our house is beautiful. It is right on the water in a lagoon right behind the finish line. We have a dock on the back of the house and the finish line is about a few hundred yard paddle away. We did a finish line paddle two days ago. We got dropped off at sandy beach and paddle to the finish line. It is about 5 miles. The first few miles were so rough that it was really hard to even stay on your board. We learned a new paddle boarding term on that paddle,” alligator wrestling”. The next part felt a little better because the waves were only coming at you from 3 sides. After that it started to clean up. We paddled yesterday for a little while and caught some waves. It has been really windy and rainy but we have managed to have fun. We watch the Tour de France a few times a day, Roebee goes to Starbucks about every other hour and then we watch all of Kyles motivation movies that he brought. Today we are watching a documentary on Bruce Lee. Yesterday’s motivational movie was “Road to Paris” a documentary on Lance Armstrong’s battle to winning the Tour De France.
Kyle Daniels in training – courtesy of BarkOcean.com
We checked into the race last night and picked up our race numbers and jerseys. We will do our last paddle today, a three mile down wind run. The paddlers over here have been super helpful in showing us their routes and giving us tons of helpful hints to help us out during the race. The forecast for the race is supposed to be really good. Really windy with some pretty good sized waves. Hopefully it is fast.
Tomorrow we fly over to Molokai.
Many thanks to Matt Walls for providing the update.
Matt Smart
outsideallday contributor
Thursday, July 24th, 2008
A few months ago it became clear that we would be near the tour during our trip to Europe. We are back now and here is what it was like to see the end of stage 8 of the Tour de France 2008, in the pouring rain. First off, on July 11, the night before we wisely figured out that it would be hard to get a taxi from where we were staying in Cassis, France to its train station a short 5 km away. At 5 in the morning – no one in France is awake.
Now it was only 5 km from our hotel but it was all uphill and with our bags – walking was not going to happen. So we found a cab driver the night before and he gave us number for a cab driver for the next morning. When we rang him in the morning – he was a bit surprised, we understood that even with the language difference. But considering that it was free to get into town from the train station and he charged us 15 euros – well, he won. So we arrive at the train station in Cassis at 6 AM, wait 20 minutes, train for 30 minutes to Marseille, wait two hours, train for four hours to Toulouse. We arrive after 1 PM and it’s pouring. Luckily the hotel was across the street.
We quickly change into our warmest clothes and walk the 9 blocks to where the stage is going to end. We are getting near soaked and it is 2:45 PM. I grab my wife a Tour poncho and we wait – for the Grand Caravan (the sponsors cars and parade).
It is raining so hard the cars race by with little fanfare and few freebies.
We push ourselves as close as we can get. The north side of the street is fenced off. VIP this, VIP that. On the south side of the street you can get right up on the gate, but once you get to the finish line, you are stopped by a grand stand for sponsors. The below picture shows a VIP area across from where we stood.
At 5:05 the race came by at full speed. We were about 60 yards from the finish so they came by so fast that one picture was all I got.
It was awesome. The last rider crossed over at 5:29 and we shuffled over to the stage where they present the jerseys. Congrats to Mark Cavendish.
We had been traveling and in the rain all day and were toast but luckily we got an amazing meal at Restaurant L’Entrecôte, Toulouse which is a steak house. It was filled with locals – always a good sign.
Matt Smart
outsideallday contributor
