Bikes of Pisgah Monster Cross 2014
Andrew Pooser raced at Pisgah Monster Cross 2014, and took time to photograph some of the machines at the event's finish. Mouse over the gallery images below to see a…
K-Dogg’s Pisgah Monster Cross Challenge Report – 2014
I love climbing. You suffer a lot but it’s peaceful. You can hear birds chirping and the deep, labored breathing of fellow sufferers around you. Everything is in slow motion and downright peaceful. You have plenty of time to pick your line. Nobody flats or crashes going uphill. I would much rather be in agony climbing for hours than experience 5 minutes of terror descending skittery gravel switchbacks.
For the last 3 years at extreme cx races I’ve tried hard to man up and go faster down the cliffs….but every time I get the courage to “let it go”… I crash spectacularly. At 59 (and living in Florida) drastic improvement is just not in the cards. So this year’s counter clockwise route of Pisgah Monster Cross should have been perfect with much more uphill, than down.
This year I didn’t crash but there were two close calls…. at the two exact spots they had warned us about. ” Two point three miles before forest service road bla, bla,bla and halfway between Bubba’s Still Road and Cherokee Revenge Holler.” “These washouts are real wheel grabbers so look for the multiple orange markers on your way down” said Cam.
Right.
Big Head Todd’s SS Monster Crosser
BHT, aka Todd, is an other limerock / gravel aficionado who resides in the current hometown of Gravel Cyclist. Today, a feature about the machine that BHT resurrected from the dead. Can you say, single speed sweetness?
Excerpt from BHT himself…
This is a different kind of monster cross: No titanium, no carbon, no electronics, no maintenance, no problem. While it is a mix of old and new parts, at the heart of this build is the frame I rode exclusively from 1991-2007 (bonus fun fact – I got that bike from a friend in Michigan who went to high school with John Tomac). Inspired by the competition rigs of Dr. Pain and JOM, this is a training machine for the flatland dirt roads west of Gainesville. Singlespeed on limerock is a blast!
Dave’s Pisgah Monster Cross Challenge Race Report – 2014
This race report comes to you courtesy of our new contributing editor, David Jordan. He foolishly agreed to do this, over the course of one Facebook message. Dave is another…
Interbike 2014 Day 3 – More bikes & parts
One thousand most humble apologies for the delay in posting this entry. I sorted out these photos at the Charlotte, NC airport early this morning, during the last of my red eye flights from Las Vegas. I had the best intentions of posting the article as soon as I arrived home today, but a power nap, a longish bike ride, another power nap and errands, all took precedence. Excuses over, enjoy these photos. Now, it’s time to sleep, East Coast time.
Interbike 2014 – Shimano XTR Di2 Electronic Shifting
During day three of Interbike 2014, I had a few moments to play with the Shimano XTR Di2 system. The system is officially known as Shimano XTR Di2 M9050, and continues the trend of Shimano’s naming standards. Simply put, the system is mind blowing! The shifter buttons offer the same tactile feedback you expect with the equivalent mechanical shifter, but with zero delay from button push, to derailleur actuation.
I didn’t try out the synchro mode of the system. Rather, I pushed the rear derailleur through it’s regular incremental steps, one click of the shifter after the other. The derailleur shifted as fast as I could push the buttons, or at a determined speed (customizable multi-shift) if I held down a shifter button. The front derailleur functioned flawlessly as expected.
Interbike 2014 Day 2 – Dirt & Gravel Goodies
Greetings from Interbike 2014, day two. During today’s downtime, I photographed several bikes and parts of interest. Enjoy!
Interbike 2014 Day 1 – Tubeless Dirt Road Tires & Paul Components Brakes
Greetings readers, If you missed it, I'm helping my friends at American Classic with their 2014 presence at Interbike. Time to scope goodies and such today was limited, but I…
Dr Pain’s Monster Cross Bike
Dr Pain like JOM, is an equipment nut. After what Dr Pain felt were several life threatening experiences at past Ultra CX and endurance CX events, he decided he needed…
Miami Dirt Roads – Best places to hide a dead body
On the skip flight to Las Vegas, I snapped a couple of photos of Miami, Florida from the air. Looks like those power lines are totally rideable, albeit miles and…
Gravel Cyclist goes to Interbike 2014
JOM, long time friend of the staff at American Classic, will be working at their booth (#8091) for the duration of the Interbike show, this Wednesday to Friday. Before the…
The Velcro Tire Training Ride AND Video
Yes, velcro tire (tyre).
Definition: A wheel sucking road surface, typically consisting of sand and water, akin to wet concrete. The surface is so power robbing, it is like riding velcro tires (tyres) on your bicycle. Tyres from 1.8″ to 2.0″ (Specialized Renegade or Schwalbe Furious Fred) fare no better.
Suggestion: Stay home, or borrow K-Dogg’s lawn mower, which has 14″ wide tyres. From K-Dogg, “I could drop you bitches on any surface you can throw at me. Provided you don’t go faster than 9mph”.
Or, shut up and ride bitch.
