Pre "season" experimenting

So I did a little testing this weekend. I'm running out of time to play with shit before the "season" gets here, and there are definitely some things that I wanted to mess with on the Meatplow before I mount a number plate to my bars.

I mentioned previously that the small One9 frame now has a water bottle mount under the down tube. In previous years the small frame had only one mount on top of the down tube, and that's why I chose to ride a medium frame back in 2008 (while I had one). I'm not sure when Niner added the second mount (they don't do model years per se), but I'm glad they realized that little people get thirsty too. It's good to know they no longer side with Randy Newman.

So here's what I had to work with:

There's that mount... right where I would want it. Right next to the spinning chainring of death and in the direct line of fire from the shit throwing front wheel.

This is what I call "living on the down low", but after doing some research I think I'm gonna have to find another name for it.

So it's not really that bad after all. I can reach the bottle from the seated position, and I can see if I've lost it without looking behind me (as I would if I had a seatpost mounted bottle as seen here on Lynda's bike... not not the one on the top tube or the one on the bottom of the down tube or the one between her spokes on her front wheel).

I know some folks are stoked about the new King top cap cage mount....

I myself can't do this. No matter how practical and totally useful it is I just can't stick a water bottle there, on the front of my bike, in plain sight. It's like putting a third boob on a woman's forehead. Sure it would come in handy, but it's just not where I'm accustomed to seeing it, and that's gonna throw my game off a little.

So I put my cage where Niner intended, a second boob slightly lower and just offset from where I would normally have it.

I gave the whole thing a whirl on my 29 mile ride at Uwharrie last Saturday. We went down a real kidney puncher of a downhill twice, and the bottle refused to become a projectile as I expected it would have being in such a precarious position. I went ahead and drank from the conveniently mounted bottle to start with and then attempted a rolling swap to the full bottle. On my first attempt the cage was reluctant to give up it's occupant, so I had to pull pretty hard to get it to release it's Kung Fu grip on my drinking vessel. I pulled so hard that when the bottle was released from the Cobra Clutch I shoved the bottle into the front tire, and the bottle was snatched from my hands and sent tumbling down the trail in one smooth movement. This was a disappointment. I stopped, picked up the bottle, replaced it, and tried again... this time with more success. It takes some practice and a little Indiana Jones handling skills to make the swap smoothly.

Vimeo Tribute: Indiana Jones from Blake Whitman on Vimeo.

So after all that messing around I've decided I'm just gonna run one bottle when I race (knowing that I could run two if I wanted to) just like I did back in the day on the original Meatplow before I bought the Fanny Pack of Doom. It worked then, and it will work now... or not.

Speaking of races....

PMBAR is selling out a record pace. If you are not in now but plan to enter eventually you best shit or get off the pot. There will be no last minute inclusion of Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong, or Johnathon LaRoy no matter how much celebrity you have to throw around. Thad and I will be back this year, so go ahead and enjoy the race for second place with the rest of the gang.

And if you want a piece of this:

Start thinking 2011 since all 300 spots are sold out this year. You might want to contact the promoter to see if someone is selling their spot, but I'm not making any promises. I told you this thing would get big. Hands down the best six/twelve hour course I've ever ridden.

And just because someone looked so hard to find this for me when I needed it most, I give you Techno Viking.