Since you've been gone...

A lot happens over the course of four days of blog silence. Wednesday night I was doing some really exciting lifestyle stuff (laundry). I was carrying a basket of wet clothes over to the dryer, and on the way into the laundry room I bumped a case of canned cat food (for the current foster kitten) off a shelf where it sat shoulder high off the floor. The case of 24 cans of nibbly bits in gravy came crashing down on toes number two and three of my left foot. Foul language spewed forth from my pumpkin pie hole, and I came hopping back into the living room cursing foster pets, cat food, laundry, and Garth Prosser (I'm always looking for a reason to be angry at Garth). The force of the impact cracked two of the cans open, and two of my toes were throbbing in pain and unable to bend in a happy jointly manner.

I decided to go into the bike room, prop up my foot, and surf the internet until such time that I could determine if I'd actually broke anything. The Pie, being the fine wife that she is, came in with an ice pack, but I couldn't get it to stay on my toes. Luckily I had something within reach on my desk (honestly).

Yes, the Awesome strap can do anything... well just don't click on the link right now though, as the site is currently down for maintenance. I believe the IT department sent it out to be cleaned, and now they can't find their claim ticket... something like that.

Thursday (Thanksgiving) I was going to start up Run Club in earnest just as I did two years ago on Thanksgiving. This time around I was not going to over do it by running 3-5 miles for three days in a row until my knees feel like throbbing watermelons. No, this time I was going to start off smart, and now that things have changed at work I have a way figured out that will keep me from running in below freezing temperatures at 5:30am. Well my do gooder plans were dashed by the evil case of canned cat food, a basket of wet clothes, and Garth Prosser's meddling. Although I'm gonna get a late start I plan on following through with the plan, and I'll go into the details of the plan at a later date.

On Friday the mailman brought happiness in the form of a Priority Mail package and a long awaited magazine that was delayed by its cursed third class mail status.

A box of happy from George "El Diablo" Wisell from Bike29.com.

Yes, there it is in all its 1,440 grams of wonder, the Kodiak 2.5 from WTB/Niner. This tire is made by WTB, but if you want one you have to get it from a Niner dealer, no matter how nefarious or evil bearded he may be. Of course I mounted it up toot sweet WITHOUT TUBES, which gave me a chance to try out the Niner CO2 vs the Big Air competition that I had been planning for quite some time.

More about the performance of the new tire and the inflation test later this week, I promise.

The long awaited piece of third class mail that showed up was issue number 146 of the glamorous (but according to G-Ted, too short) mountain bike magazine, Dirt Rag.

Why was I waiting so impatiently for it to show up this time around? Was there a review of a 26" full suspension bike I was dying to read? Perhaps a two page article on some new Pale Ale Stout IPA Lager snooty boot beer? No, something even better... my first article written by me, about me, and all me (with some absent minded, regrettable mention of Gunnar). Of course I have lots to say about this, but it's gonna have to wait till later in the week.

Saturday I got out for a ride with Tim "Charlotte Single Speed Champ" Kingery, Johnny Nutsack, Eric "PMBAR Honcho" Wever, and Mike Brown. In almost as many cars as we could possibly drive we met up in the Wilson's Creek area of the Pisgah National Forest for some good times in the mountains. This was my first official ride on my new Kodiak tire, and I must say it was pretty awesome. I did get outta hand at one point and launched off a log without seeing the landing zone clearly. I ended up landing on the edge of a hole (the bad side of the edge) and came crashing down to the earth face first with my shoulder coming in close second, and finally I ended up resting on my back.

Unable or unwilling to wait for the bleeding to stop I finished the day with blood pouring outta my nose.

Of course since this four day recap post is so long there will be a lengthy review of the Kodiak coming later in the week. Rest assured I pushed the tire to its absolute limits showing no regard for my own personal safety in order to give you the most extensive tire review a person could do after only one day to two days of riding.

Could the new tire handle hard packed gravel roads at almost 15mph in a dead straight line?

Hell yeah! It was like make-up sex, high fructose corn syrup, and a high idling V8 engine all in the form of a rubber circle.

Sunday I got out for a local ride straight out the front door of my house. I headed over to the the site of the Outlaw Urban Cyclocross race first. I wanted to try riding the drop and the gap drop on my mountain bike (as opposed to dismounting my fixed gear and hopping down or down and over). Once I convinced myself I could sack up if I had to by hitting each of them once I headed over to the Backyard Trails for some goof-off solo riding. The Backyard is a great place to test tire grip as there's a lot of sluicy turns and rocky technical move stuff. Once again I was pleased with the Kodiak, but I'm saving that stuff for later.

That was my four day weekend in a nutshell. I'll do my best this week to get a little more into the details re: the Kodiak, Dirt Rag, the CO2 playtime, Run Club, and why I've learned to blame everything on Garth Prosser when I get a chance.

All ride photos from the PMBAR Honcho