I'm required to kill, so I kill

The Pie returns today. It's been a long five days, and what needs to be done is evident. I have been living as if I'm one of the dogs the whole time, and I need to clean up the house and return it to some respectable level. There's enough dog hair on the floor to make a fifth dog. Gina, the future guide dog for the blind, started her period. Her menses. Her cycle. Aunt Flow has come to visit. Errrr... uummmm...

This has not been an experience that I've enjoyed on any level. After consulting The Pie over the phone she asked me to try and put our 25lb Shelty's period pants on the 80lb+ Labrador. Fail. Let's just say the hardwoods have looked like the deck of a pirate ship after a brutal attack by the British Fleet. You're welcome.

Looking at Blair's photos from the Wilson's ride I realized I had something I could expand upon.

I'm actually using the products that I shill on the blog on an actual bike ride in the actual woods. In the photo I am wearing the new Twin Six long sleeve Dark Deluxe I got last week. As a matter of fact I've worn it four times since getting it (twice at work and twice on MTB rides). I just didn't turn a camera back at myself and document it as I am sometimes a low performing shill.

Do I like it? Yes. The fleecy material has kept me warm on some pretty chilly days so far. How warm?

It was at this point in the ride as we took a break at a windy gap I noticed everybody else wearing some kind of jacket or vest. My vest was tucked away in my Camelbak, and had been there since the first descent. Awesome. So the new jersey is warm as well as flattering on my winter form.

I also broke out my Camelbak Octane LR for the ride.

This has become my go-to pack. I should point out that I hate wearing a pack, and will do what I have to in order to avoid wearing a pack. Currently both of my bikes have only one bottle cage, so I find it difficult to make a day in the mountains without one. I do have a Charge 450 at my disposal, but the way that the Octane bladder pretty much sits on and around my waist is just too awesome to ignore. When jumping and wiggling all over the place I do not have a pack hitting me in the back of my head and shifting about in all manner of directions. Keep in mind that this is a smaller pack. It only carries 70oz of liquid (of your choice) and 549 cubic inches of cargo. For me that's enough room for everything I need for a 4-5 hour ride, and just in case I run out of water I do utilize the one cage on my bike. How much shit did I carry?

That would be one tube, a Mountain Pipe pump, a 25 gram CO2, a Park multi-tool, some gels (I didn't eat them), five oatmeal cookies (I did eat them), a vest, a bandanna, a camera (which I used to take pictures of people facing away from me), and my little Pisgah kit of required PMBAR gear to be safe.

Of course going to the mountains I cheated and carried some extra shit on my seatpost with an Awesome Strap, in this case The Zone, mostly because I never bother to take it off my bike.

Yes, it is currently off the bike, but that's a long story involving repairs, and dropped chains, and theft potential, and workstands....

I lost my train of thought. I had to get up and clean more... *uuurrrppppp*... blood off the floor.

Hands down, honest Injun, cross my heart and hope to die, this is my favorite pack thus far (previous favorites being the Ergon which ended up being too much pack for me, my Wingnut Assault which only carried 50oz and not enough gear, and my ratted out, decade old Blowfish).

All that said, I still have to give the Octane LR my....

Seal of Semi-Approval.

Why? Am I going to complain about a free product? Yes. You see, I am not a big fan of yellow, and this pack is about as yellow as yellow can get. There were other options...


but I got yellow. I'll admit that as we drove into Wilson's Creek and I saw all the hunters' trucks sitting on the edge of the road I did consider the fact that not many deers are yellow and even fewer wear yellow packs. Perhaps the yellow fabric wasn't such a bad idea, but I had to find something to complain about.