7 weeks later

I finally talk to the owner at Central wheel, I tell him it's been 7 weeks and I have been getting bounced around by each shop employee not knowing what is going on with it. Luckily I got the owner and he told me they just talked with Raleigh and they are having a real hard time getting them to stand behind their product, I can't say I am surprised, I go thru a frame a year. The most recent one I hoped would last being a brand new frame, it appears my riding style and East Coast shredding is built for destroying frames. Which makes me want to ride my Belltown even less in the coming months before moving. I know the less rocky terrain in Utah will do just fine. I am happy with the response from the shop owner, I must say I was growing really frustrated with them since every frame has been a lengthy ordeal and this one was proving to be the worst. He says they are trying to get Raleigh to stand behind their product and I applaud them with their efforts, in the event Raleigh pulls thru with a frame I will be surely visiting them with a big case of beer or something. It's been 5 weeks off the bike and it sucks, but not sure how much riding I would be doing with my duties at home anyway. I am in a bit of a dilemma without the Raleigh back in order since it is my go to bike, I really don't want to put the Belltown into full use and my Kona Dawg is up for sale, please come thru Raleigh! Just one more frame and I will never ask for another again! This is number 4 frame for me by the way, can't blame their sick of replacing their product. Please melt our snow, I am going nuts over here! Must ride soon or I will surely shrivel up and die.

Dreamer

Well it's the cold of winter and I don't know about you guys but when I'm stuck in the deep of winter I start to hallucinate. I found myself today remembering that in just a few months I will be shredding big mountains, climbing aspen filled groves, I am drooling on my keyboard just at the though of it right now. It has me reminded of how well my old 160mm suspended Kona Coil Air handled the varied terrain I encountered. When I moved to CT and found the bike heavy overkill for CT riding I decided to sell it and missed big bikes ever since. So when I start to dream up something nice and new to add to my fleet something comes to mind. NOT something wrapped in carbon, NOT 27.5 or 29" wheels, NOT something with loud ass ratcheting hubs, not some multi colored blinged out thinga ma bobber. What comes to mind is the Knolly Chilcotin, it's a beast of a bike offering all I need in one package. I can only imagine the excitement and joy this thing in my life could bring, 160mm+ is about what I want for travel, the rest of the package is glorious. So I need about 4500$, that's a ton of money obviously, there are obviously way too many priorities to dig deep into my pockets and buy such a rig but for now I need to warp the universe to set my plans high. For now, my 130mm Kona Tanuki will have to do, I look forward to getting it back moving when we arrive back in Utah. Things are going thru my head about it actually, I would love to put a stiffer wheelset on there, also would like to get a new fork so I could run 15 or 20mm front axle. Also the brakes need attention, the Elixir 3's were great for East Coast riding, but after my first ride in Utah they have been howling and under powered since. Wheels, fork, and brakes.......... Something to think about when I get to budget 500$ to do what I please with the tax return. Time to start finding used lightly stuff I guess. Soon I will buy whatever I want but for now I am happy with what I got and as long as its moving me up the hill on one gear or 10, suspension or no suspension, I just want to be riding :)

POOP

Winter has tightened it's grip around our necks and has been battering us the last month in bitter cold and white fluffy stuff. I wish I could say I was enjoying it and the skiing was great, but the fact of the matter is we are cooped up inside 95% of the day, struggling to wait out the end of winter. I look so forward to getting outside and feel the warmth of the glorious sun again and say goodbye to the snow. I love taking care of my boy every day, and I am blessed to be able to do so while my wife endures education to provide a much better life for us. Not thinking about riding on a daily basis these days however is tough, why is this thing on two wheels empower me so deeply? I found that the outdoors have always moved me, especially in the last 5 years of my life, I feel at home in the wilderness, whether it be on my snowboard or the bike or carrying a little infant on my back. The smell of alpine meadows in the summer, the cold fluffy powder days, the sound of trickling streams and big valley views. I wish sometimes I could focus my mind on business and success, but for me and for better or worse, have an adventurous soul always seeking refuge from the daily grind. I wish sometimes I could meet everyone's expectations, but in this thing called life no one was made perfect. I love my life, I continue to live it best I can without regrets, hopefully keeping my wife plenty happy along the way. Not sure where that came from but I felt it from somewhere and blurted it out, maybe some other mountain bikers might be able to relate. Its snowing outside, for the third time this week, I am running out of placse to put the snow, looks like a few more days of weather and the 40's are showing for Wednesday. The next ride will certainly be a memorable one that is for sure, certainly will be sucking wind from being so idle but damn it's going to be great! Mr speed devil plow man has totaled my mailbox one too many times this winter, I made the mailbox mobile, take that jerky!

10 day dry spell

10 days has been tough without riding, weather has been poor around here and obligations plenty, fingers crossed for a solid Monday ride this coming week, and as much as humanly possible after that, hope one day to ride enough to fill my glass.......til then I am partying with this little rock star.