A few more pictures from the Fall in the Carolinas Road Trip...

A few shots from the trails in and around Pisgah National Forest

Whats old is new again...

Well I am not as DIY talented as some but I can certainly find those that are to help with restore projects like this.

Enter Serge.  I met Serge when I got a few interior areas covered in Alcantara for my Subaru. 

When I asked him for help he did not dissapoint.  In fact I did not think the saddles in question would look this good again and in the case of the Fisik better than new.

I color matched the yellow on my Rocky Mountain Altitude and recovered this original Selle Italia Flite 1990. 

The Fizik was for the Scapin and I went with a faux carbon and matte leather.  I think they turned out great. So if you have a old saddle kicking around and want to spruce things up a bit in a cost effective way this is a great way to add some custom color bike.

It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder how I keep from going under.....

It was like kind of summer in the city.  Rain, rain and more rain.  Its hard to believe there is singletrack under all this growth.

" The Knoll "

Don Days of Spring..

Mowtown Trail Heading North in the Don Valley

NAHBS is next month in Sacremento. Steve Potts is confirmed.

Full show info and exhibitor list can be found here.

DAGMAR.... Is finally ( almost ) back. I week to go SEPT 12th

One of the old school G.T.A. mtb destinations has been resurrected.  Official Press Release:

Uxbridge: September 1, 2015: The Durham Mountain Biking Association (DMBA) is pleased to announce the Grand Opening of the Dagmar North Trails on September 12, 2015. The new 13 km of trails in the Dagmar North Tract (DNT) are the culmination of eight years of planning and 5 months of building. The building was accomplished with over 200 volunteer builders investing over 5,000 hours of sweat equity in the project. This is one of the largest volunteer trail building projects in Canada. 

In the meantime here is " some " of the trails sped up into a 18 minute sample video.  There is a lot more and tons of options and can't wait to add this to the mix... officially


 

Wheelie Wendnesdayz in the Gatineau Parc

They do a really good job not making public the singletrack outside of the Camp Fortune end of the park.  So much so that you almost get the feeling they don't want you to find it.  They don't know how determined we are when it comes to finding the good stuff.  Gatineau has km after km of mapped and marked double track and the stuff on the north end ( Wakefield QC ) where we just were but if you step off the beaten path, commit to bushwack, you find gems like this.  This was probably one of the most scenic singletrack stretches that was well hidden and obviously ridden and we really enjoyed these..

Don Days of Summer

Roller Flowster Trail - Don Valley

Dual (ly) Personalities...

Don Valley Views

What goes around comes around....

It seems sometimes the bike industry runs out of innovation and like other platforms start to re-introduce the " NEW " new.  Take for instance the soft-tail.  A lot of people discount elastomers and sub 2" travel bikes but truth be told it still works and is still relevant.

Case in point the Pinarello soft tail road bikes of Team Sky used in the Paris Robaiux and the BMC Teamlites being used on the World Cup circuit. 

So while bikes like the Silk ti 29's and the YBB's and La Ruta's have stuck with this platform those of us lucky enough to own one of these know all too well the benefits of simplicity.

All of this is of course scenario based.  For instance my Silk ti would not be my go to bike for a big all mountain type road trip but having been on more than few with it it never really hurt but you can certainly push the envelope a bit more with a true big squish.

I won't be getting rid of mine anytime soon and I'm glad the masses are being re-introduced to them.  In Onterrible where I live this is all I need... Oh ya those are Rotor Rings aka Biopace.

Keep It Simple Stupid...

It's hard to believe ( well not really ) that this bike is 6.5 years old.  I have lost track of the standards, wheel sizes, bottom brackets, headsets, dropper posts, cable routing, new trail riding descriptive names that have all come and gone in this time.  I still get asked about this bike the most and from locations all around the world via this blog and instagram so I thought I would do a review this summer and share some thoughts on the simplicity of the ti soft tail.  There are many like it but this one is mine...

In the meantime enjoy this ti collage of the best bike I've owned.  Castellano Silk ti 29 by Steve Potts.

Copeland Forest October Colours...

Got a break in the weather and cold temps this past long weekend so we ventured up to Copeland to get some non retro rides in on a couple of ti soft tail's ( Silk ti 29 & Moots Ybb )

Copeland is a pretty tough spot to ride both in route finding and elevation gains and when you add the leaf carpet plus a GoPro you are inviting that highlight reel crash.  We never got to test this formula out but a few wheel stoppers made you pay attention.

First Annual Kris & Phil's Retro Revival Ride - Durham Forest

Bill's IBIS, Phil's Rocky, Kris's Klein, Paul's Trek, Derek's Kona

Kris and I have been floating this idea around for a while and the ride finally took place this past Sunday at Durham Forest. 

It was 8 degrees when we rolled out at 9:30 ish but the trail conditions were mint. 

We have lots of ideas and venues for future rides ( think Mono Center, Seaton, Mansfield etc. ).  We had a mix of old and new rides and all ages and levels out and everyone had a blast. 

We did 2 loops so everyone had as much as they wanted.  No major mechanical issues even though I kept expecting the air upgrade kit in my Judy XC to project upwards at 180 psi :)  Paul's Trek put the rake in RAKE.  Good Times !!

Copeland

Last long weekend of the summer.  Got 3 days of epic rides in the Horseshoe area.  Despite somehow losing 3 of 6 rotor bolts during 1 ride ( thanks to Hardwood Hills for the save ) everything was mint, including the weather. 

Perfection...

 " the condition, state, or quality of being free or as free as possible from all flaws or defects....."

Perfect Day - 1 Flat Tyre = Perfect Day

Glen Major

Spring time in the GTA

Durham Forest

Durham Forest - Check

Dufferin  Forest - Check

Don Valley - Check

Walker / 3 Rox - Wet down low so skip.

Rouge Valley - Not so check.....

April is always hit and miss with weather.  The trails are  thawing so lots of time spent on the roads north of the GTA and itching to get back on the MTB.

Durham on Sunday morning was great.  3 cars in the lot at 9 and at 12 the lot was packed.  Easy to stay off the trails that are still too wet as they have signs up but the rest of the forest was mint and a easy couple of hours to be had.  The trails were getting the leaf blower treatment which is always nice so make sure you stop and thank the volunteers that buff the singletrack for us to ride.  The Don is fantastic.  Again not much to say other than really enjoying perfect conditions.

Motown heading north

This is a far better weather report than what took place this past weekend in Prescott at the Whiskey Race. Yes Arizona, and yes snow, sleet and hail. It seems we are not the only ones...