Thursday, January 11, 2007

Winter, at last

Snow falling through the glare of HID lights.
Frozen ground crunching under fresh rubber.
Water bottles turning to blocks of ice.
Breath steaming into clouds.

Tuesday was a great ride. Two hours of trails in the cold, cold dark. A local trail (specific site CLASSIFIED) was in great shape for some winter riding. I was running a new Ignitor up front, and it was the perfect tire for the conditions. There was around an inch of snow on the trail, with nicely frozen ground below. It was chilly to start, but my medium gloves and Dan's new Moose Mitts kept digits toasty. The two hours flew by.

Dan was sporting his new "Team Issue" Niner Air9. I'll say this about that bike; It sure is orange. Shouts of joy were heard around the singlespeed world, as the bike was sporting ((shudder)) a 1x9 drivetrain. Dan will still campaign the SS at selected events, but will do the National Endurance Series on gears. The new Niner team jersey looks nice now, but I don't know how well the white color will fare after a few hundies...

The Quiring performed flawlessly! There has been talk about converting that bike to 1x9; it has cable guides and a derailleur hanger. I just can't bring myself to do that until I get my next frame. I don't expect the next frame for a couple of months yet, but that hasn't stopped my from dusting off a few 9-speed parts. Unlike Dan, I would only use a 1x9 for training; I'm SS on race day, and make no mistake.

I'm happy to say that White Industries will be back as a sponsor for 2007. Great parts, but more importantly great people! Even though last season saw less race participation than I would have liked,they decided to stay in my corner for another year. Awesome! People with time on their hands can check the team page for hints on the frame sponsor.

More riding on tap tonight with the Crazy Bastards. The weather is supposed to be a bit warmer tonight, so the mud will be flying. At least this week I will be prepared. Looking at four hours of trail riding Saturday and a nice recover ride on Sunday. Tomorrow I'm at the gym.

I've got one of my Airborne Lucky Strike frames up for sale on the MMBA website. $450 for the frame and a nearly new headset; it's priced to move. Help a brother out and get your neighbor to buy that sucker. I need money for new parts!!

5 comments:

dicky said...

Dan will certainly do some damage on the geared field. His absence is certainly making me re-think my decision to bail on the series.

Endurosnob said...

Congrats to Dan. I am sure that if I end up in the same race as him, he'll be riding SS and kicking me in the junk. (Of course, so will you and Dicky so I'll get used to it.)

When's your announcement coming?

Joe Partridge said...

Yeah, that Dan is fast. We'll preride a course, and I'll be doing everything I can to keep up. When we finish, he is fresh as a daisy and ready to race. I feel like I've already raced a lap. Then he walks away from me (and the rest of the field, usually) for the win. I think he's switching to gears because he is usually competative in the open class in his SS...

As far as the frame announcement, I'll make it as soon as my check clears. (Yes, I still have to pay for it. This is pro-deal, not full-ride sponsorship we are talking about here...)

Anonymous said...

who in their right mind gives dan a white anything??????

Unknown said...

Still got your frame and headset at $450? Send me an email at graeme dot hird [at] gmail dot com. I'm interested.