Moving forward in a backwards direction

I forgot to mention that last Saturday I was able to sneak out for a ride in the Uwharrie Mountains on the Superbeast set up in Shreddie the Corpse single speed mode.

Of course the bike's last outing was a total failure, but I had to know if it was just because of the ample supply of mud on the trails, a weak mechanical device, or a weak rider. Did it work this time?

Yes, it was a beautiful thing. Eric Van Driver was in tears with bountiful joy. Stabby was not affected as he has no emotions other than rage and hungry.

I saw something of interest in Bike magazine the other day. Yes, I do subscribe to the "other" magazine. I'm saving Mike Ferrentino's Grimy Handshake columns so I can re-hash them in a few years with my own words and use them in future issues of Dirt Rag. Anyways, I saw an ad for a new suspension fork from Asia.

Is this fork for you? According to the marketing verbage this fork "WAS DESIGNED FOR PROFESSIONAL PLAYERS OF DH AND XC TO OVERCOME ALL TERRAIN LANDS."

Hmmm... me thinks this ad has a little babelfish sound to it. I get that there are other cultures out there whose primary language isn't English, but why doesn't someone at BIKE say "Ummm, hey guys. Your ad makes very little sense here in the US and A. Mind if we tweak it some?"

I must say I am looking for something to help me "overcome all terrain lands," but I'm not quite a "professional player" yet. This fork is not for me.

Click, enlarge, read, chuckle, move on.

I made a big mistake when I announced that I was going to announce my new sponsor for 2011. I assume that some over excited reader in China exclaimed his joy upon seeing that I was finally going to reveal my new frame and in doing so a butterfly on his window sill was startled and flapped its wings...

Then a crayon rolls off a desk in North America...

In the end my frame's arrival date has been moved back slightly, all because I pushed my luck and almost entirely jinxed the whole project by going full monty. Had I followed through with the announcement I am positive that something much worse than a minor delay would have occurred, so I'm considering myself fortunate. The frame will not be here by the end of January as planned, but it may be here in time for...

It is not a cross frame, but it will be my cross frame.

I had a meeting the other night with my Sponsor Liaison and Equipment Acquisitions Director, Admiral Ackbar.

He said we will be taking the Meatplow to SSAZ next week. The single speedy Superbeast is too much of a long shot, and he doesn't wanna pack it since the frame is crabon fiber and everybody knows how fragile that material is. The good news is that he's been doing his job, and the parts acquisition for the new bike has been moving forward.

The tapered Niner crabon fjork is in the house, along with a new Selle Italia SLR saddle. I think aside from those recent acquisitions and the seatpost collar Admiral Ackbar has just been stealing parts from my old bikes as opposed to acquiring them new, but I guess he has to stretch the budget where he can. "Crabon fjorks ain't cheap," he reminded me.

I am aware of the fact that collecting all my parts and putting them in a special corner is some male version of the nesting instinct. What can I say? My baby's gonna be overdue soon, and I'm not even close to being dilated.