insectengine » Cycling

My Waltworks Single Speed 29er.

James — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:06:04 +0000

So, I’ve dove head first into Mountain Biking over the past year and change. I purchased a used Santa Cruz Blur and rode if for a long time. On one of my Sunday rides with the local Bike Mojo crew I met a few guys who rode single speed (SS) and one crazy nut job who rode Fixie. Anyway at one of the breathers on the trail, I took a quick spin on one of the guys SS. Wow, it was nice. No worries about what gear to be in… just go. And I took it up a hill and I was amazed. It was light and climbed like a billygoat.

So, I got my hands on a cheap single speed and rode it for a couple months (exclusively) and really love the experience. It was an entry level bike and it was fully rigid so I was killing my shoulders on downhills. Hey, I never claimed to be a good rider ok. I decided to get a suspension fork on the front to make the rides more enjoyable. Well, needless to say, it would have cost more than the entire bike. So a discussion was had between me and my MTB mentor about it. He said I should get a quality steel frame and go from there.

That started my quest for frames and after a month of searching and test riding I fell into a deal on eBay for a custom Waltworks frame. This guy is a reknowned frame builder from Colorado. Anyway the frame on Ebay was built for a guy who matched my measurements exactly and it was a fraction of the cost and wait time of getting Walt to build me one from scratch.

So I bought it. My buddy Jason built it up and it’s been love ever since. I’ve been riding this bike exclusively for about six months and have no desire to ride anything else. It’s to the point I’ve put road slicks on my Santa Cruz and use it for road riding.

Here are some pictures of it in all it’s manliness.

Cycling Jersey Design… Tender Gooch Racing

James — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:42:53 +0000

I’ve been riding with a group of Single Speeders for a while now on a weekly ride on Mondays. Quite a few of them all race together under the banner of “Tender Gooch Racing”. I figured they needed to meet their quota of overweight balding middle aged guys so they made me a member. Suckers.

They like to make fun of other “race teams” so the idea of a mock jersey came up. So, being a designer who can’t seem to say “no”… I couldn’t pass on the chance to help some friends out.

Check out the design.

Repping Polska proper.

James — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 03:50:07 +0000

So, a while back, I picked up a Santa Cruz Blur on Craigslist. I posted about it and told some of my friends from Poland to check it out. My buddy Tomek was aghast. “Why do you have that grungy pigeon on it” he said. The previous owner had put a “Deutschland” crest sticker on it and I hadn’t bothered to take it off.

See the proof…

After awhile, I get this in the mail…

Tomek’s Gift

So, in honor of my Polish friends, I’ve scrapped off the German Chicken and have replaced it with a proper Crest.

New and Improved

Enjoy Tomek.

My new ride…

James — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:07:35 +0000

A friend let Luke and I borrow his mountain bikes (Thanks Christian!) for the Adventure Race. I gratefully returned it and needed to find a ride of my own. I looked on the newpaper of the 21st century (craigslist) and found an 03 Santa Cruz Blur. After a bit of chatting I picked it up. Man, that full suspension is nice as it eats up the bumpy trials. I took it out to the veloway for the initial shakedown ride then I hit the Barton Creek Greenbelt on Sunday to ride with some fellas. I again took a beating on some of the rock gardens but the bike was super nice. I managed to get my first scratch on it so, that’s out of the way. I rolled through Walnut Creek last night on it and it flew. I’m quite happy with my new ride.

Check it out…

Completed my first adventure race!

James — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:15:27 +0000

I’ve been doing a good deal of exercise for a while now and a co-worker suggested I try a triathlon. Well, two trips to the pool where my 10 year old lapped me was enough to end that experiment. I’ve always wanted to try an adventure race and took the opportunity.

So, I chatted with my buddy Luke and he was game. We loosely trained for a little over a month and gave it a shot. We decided to try the Terra Firma Sprint Race in Glen Rose Texas. It was pretty tough… 3 mile trail run, 40 minute paddle and 9.5 mile mountain bike. It was probably the most grueling thing I’ve ever done. End the end though, it was a really cool time.

Due to our… um… manliness, We were able to compete in the “clydesdale” division. We finished 3rd place with a time of 2:54:35.