TSE news I now know

There's tons of Trans Sylvania Epic news of interest that I haven't shared lately, the most fascinating of which I just saw this morning.


That's Mark Weir sitting in his JEEP hangar next to a....

Cannondale?

The whole story is here, and it was written by the curvaceous Mike "I used to have some sweet hair" Cushionbury. Apparently Mark couldn't stand that there was a better looking rider out there on a Santa Cruz bike, so he jumped ship from his long time sponsor and headed to the greener pastures of Bedford, PA. I used to think of Mark and Santa Cruz as peas and carrots, but I guess they're more like peas and canned cat food now.

At least Mark will be back again for another TSE. Let's just say he and his crew kept things quite....ermmmm... animated.

What else?

The odds that I get extremely chicked at the 2011 TSE keep going up. The women's field now includes, Selene Yeager, Sonya Looney, Rebecca Rusch, Sue Haywood, Amanda Carey, Karen Potter, and Vicki Barclay. Eeeshh. That's a stacked field, well unless "stacked" is a derogatory term when used to describe women. If that is the case, I'll call it a "luscious" field in order to keep in the good favor of the woman folk.

NoTubes is the presenting sponsor for 2011. They make the best tubeless rims in the world, and all the cool kids run them. Not to mention Stan was one of the kindest, most inventive out-of-the-box thinking guys I've ever met. I think I told the story before, but back in 2001 I ordered a tubeless kit. The mailman didn't get it to me in time, and I called NoTubes. Stan's wife answered, and she said he was in town (Charlotte) for the Memorial day holiday. I called him, he came over with a kit, and then he stayed to help me install it. Too bad that was a time before blogging and digital cameras. I would say that back then he looked like a middle aged Robert Duval, so this is the best I could do to recapture that magical moment in my garage:

In unrelated news, the Southern Cross pre-race nightmares have started. Tire swaps the night before, someone who shouldn't even be at the race tinkering with my brakes and stripping a bolt that shouldn't be there either, running late to the start... I woke up to The Pie shaking me. I thought she was trying to comfort me, but apparently I was sleeping through the alarm with my good ear on the pillow. Doh.

One final thing about TSE: Registration prices go up on March 1st by $100. That's almost six twelve packs of Fat Tire Ale. Hurry up or stay sober.

Public Service announcement time.

The Topeak Ergon Racing Team is having a contest.

The prize is desirable. The catch? You have to make a 90 second video to enter. Anybody who has ever made a short video knows it is a PITA to make a GOOD 90 second video. I assure you, mine will be good. Enter if you dare.

And one more thing.

The auction for that wheel I mentioned Tuesday ends today. Get your mountain bike fixed in a smug way at a cheap price @ 6:45pm EST.

Nothing says "I love me" like a Phil Wood hub.