DeKalb

Iron's beautiful Ti



OG baby





Joel's beautiful IF Ti crown jewel







The most interesting man in the world, Ari



The CAAD9'er



Pre-soak

Ventured to the land of DeKalb for the weekend, 20 miles with Tobie, Joel, Iron, Russ, Erico on saturday, started dry...ended up soaked to the bone. Tobie and I pressed on to finish the ride alone as the others gave in to the wetness, I was glad to spend a few more miles in the saddle with a good riding partner. As soon as we arrived back at the shop...the clouds parted and it was a beautiful day out...what do you know?? Planned a ride with Ari on sunday morning. We started dry and had some good conversation. Ari is one of my favorite people to ride with because we giggle like school girls about random thoughts in our heads and talk about almost anything. Halfway into the ride the waterworks started and it came down hard. We pressed on as the sheets of rain came down and finished with 40 miles, soaked...again. Right on schedule the clouds cleared up and it was beautiful out again. Either way, got to ride with good friends and catch up which was great. Saw some awesome Titanium machines from Joel and Iron....nice work guys, Joels new king wheels will match the bike perfectly! Good times

Thursday

Took Ryan and Justin on the metric hill ride out to petersburg and athens. The wind was strong, legs felt good, hills were climbed. 65 mile ride, then worked a half day at the shop, commuted to and from work so 90 miles for the day. Built Joely-oley up some wheels last night, had a good ride home in the dark with the dinotte. Start gearing up for the cold weather!

- JB

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King Joel

Built some Chris King wheels up for my good friend Joel from the viking state of MN, in which I was born and raised. These wheels are a very similar set up as mine. Classic hubs, sapim spokes, sapim brass nips, dt skewers, dt 465 rims, fond de jante rim tape....does it get any better....probably not. Looking forward to riding with Joel and the NCC people this weekend. Rain or shine boys....

P.S. - All adult beverages were consumed AFTER HOURS in the wheel fast repair salt mine...

- JB

Mariachi and Night Rides

Riding on the gravel next to the bike path, commute to work



Awesome new specialized jacket



Robo and the rest of the group



Alley riding

Took the neglected SS29'er out for the first time in 3 or 4 months and forgot how much I enjoy riding it. Did 20 miles before work and 20 miles after work with the night ride groups. The night mountain/cross rides have started at 6 pm tuesdays and thursdays. If you dont know about them and live in springfield the tuesday night ride meets at washington park, thursday rochester park. Usually a turn out of about 15 people. Bring warm clothing, lights, food, and a bike. This tuesday we hit up the Koke mill "church" trails which were really fun and my first time riding them it was a very fun technical little 2-3 mile loop i would guess. We then proceeded to go on the Jeff Williams alley cruise and heard howling dog after howling dog bark at us from their backyards as we bombed the alleys of springfield. Then we rolled onto an 18 hole golf course and did a couple laps on the cart paths and then we rolled home. Good times and good friends.

- JB

Maiden Voyage

I love the pink....



Grinding out some miles



New front end



neon green machine

Took the new BMC out for an 85 mile spin the day after I got it built up. I had the cables crossed in the downtube in order to make a better flow of the cables coming off of the bars (normally the campy/sram...and now shimano bend can be somewhat extreme). The first 40 miles were extremely annoying because I could hear the cables vibrating in the downtube and hitting against the metal. So, I stopped at the shop and switched the cables all around and the bike was silent....so, I rode 45 more miles and called it a day. The bike is extremely stiff and very responsive. At 19 lbs its not the lightest road machine out there but I would rather have some trusty wheels and components on the bike and save the hassle. Hope your legs are spinning on the cycles somewhere.....Also, going to register for T.I. V7 this november and start training for the race in april, first I have to get in though....

- JB

New TRP Cross

New TRP cyclocross V-brakes....CNC'ed arms that ACTUALLY stop you. A lot of cross riders and racers complain about fork shudder or stopping power of their cantilever brakes. While I think the canti brakes are cool and effective and plan on riding them....these new short linear pulls have a lot of clearance, strong/stiff arms, good pad adjustment and are very powerful.

- JB

The crack replacement

Some pics of the new BMC, 2009 SLo1, special thanks goes out to BMC for sending me the frame two weeks after they made me saw the original one in half. The first ride last night was a bit different having some component issues and chain issues, but this bike is noticably stiffer than the 2007 and felt like pure power transfer....probably try and do 80-100 miles on it tomorrow during the day off.

- JB

Sunday

Sunday group ~20 riders



The man the myth the legend...Mark Shea



Laughing at how much money Don has...



The Casseroll amongst the light bikes....

Rode with the Mack group on Sunday and struggled with the 26 lb monster to keep up with the racers. Was fun and 65 miles were ridden. Overall since the BMC was MIA....rode the Casseroll steel is real gravel monster 265 miles for the week. Enjoy the nice weather while you can....

- JB

Day Off Ride

New Salem



Me and the JCud



Chris King BB, headset, hubs, socks



Grinder



Petersburg is where vending machines go to die



Hill



The Salsa out grazing



Salt sweat bib back

The JCud and I went out on probably the nicest fall day this year, we headed to New Salem, Petersburg, and Athens along my favorite hilly route. The ride is about 65 miles and there are numerous hills. The route is out in the country and is very peaceful and few cars are encountered. We had a good ride and it was good to get out on the Casseroll and feel the legs grind the 25 lb monster up some hills. The best part of the ride was Justin eating a powergel and saying "I hate how this stuff tastes, I try and put it in the back of my throat and just swallow so I don't have to taste it"....followed by my obvious response..."thats what she said". Excellent. Good weather, good riding, good times. 150 miles this week so far, hope to tack on at least another 100 or so before the week is up. Enjoy the last bit of warmth before the mutant riding starts.

- JB