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Friday, August 3

One town's very like another...

when your head's down over your pieces, brother.

The (rescheduled due to Mother Nature) Pisgah Enduro™ is just a week away.  I was hoping I'd have a bike with a squarshing fork attached to the head pipe before the race, but my head is literally down over my pieces.


More gold(en) bits for more colorful behk here, but no behk yet.

I knew it was a long shot that it would be here before the race.  I'm mostly bummed because my last mountain ride happened to be on Heartbreak Ridge and Kitsuma (which is like 3/4 of the race), and I was on my rigid bike that day thinking about how spectacular some moving parts between myself and the ground would feel.  The event will still be a blast, but I just wanna get back to ripping shit with slightly less reckless abandon.

I have little hope of winning the Hard Ass Class.  My buddy Jim is just faster than I am going down the mountain.  My only hope would be if he gets one flat, fixes it, immediately gets another flat... and then pulls out that Schrader valve tube that was in his fanny pack a couple months ago I kinda doubt he's replaced.  Then again, Thomas "Hat Man" Turner might show up with his one-two punch of jorts and skinsuits...

and his janky single speed...

and not only dominate his fellow Hard Asses but also make a whole mess of Endurbros head to Youtube on the next Monday looking for "How to Race Enduro" how-to videos.

Regardless of the odds that I probably get my dick beat all the way off the podium, I'm still pump-stoked about going.  This will be the first time I've done the race in years without the fog of the Trans-Sylvania Epic in my brain and legs.  We'll have a solid Charlotte crew with us, and as long as things don't get too ugly Saturday night, I'll come home with a couple of solid days of riding in the Pisgah and tales to regale all comers next week.

And yeth, Breck Epic starts on Sunday.

And also yeth, it hurts to not be there.  It's the only "race" I think I've done as much as I have WITHOUT any aspirations of performance ever, save Day One, Year One.  I love being there, and it's difficult to not have it be part of my "season."  The FOMO is always strong when I take a year off from my favorite place in the world.

You know what they say tho...

7 comments:

DrooperWannabe said...

Team Dicky: Help, I've fallen and I can't get up!

I'm tired of flying down sketchy descents on my XC hard-tail race bike without a dropper post. What 27.2 dropper should I get?

dicky said...

If it were my money, I'd stick with Thomson. That said, KS is releasing an air adjustable 27.2 post. My biggest issue with the one I had was it was way too slow, and there was no way to speed it up.

Or do what I'm doing and toss your 27.2 posted frame baby out with the bathwater and get a new one.

DrooperWannabe said...

Do you know when the KS air adjustable is coming out?

Have you tried the Gravity Dropper? All mechanical, spring actuated.

Just got the new bike with the 27.2 post... told my wife it would last at least 2 years...

OkieBrian said...

I wonder if the parts from the KS Lev air adjustable 27.2 will be interchangeable with the non-adjustable version?

John said...

I'm waiting on shop to install my 27.2 PNW Pine, 105 mm droop. External routing behind bottle cage, then internal under BB and then exiting at front shifter cable port (I'm 1x now) on my Highball frame.

TJ Morton said...

Hey, what's that gold bolt for? And is it Ti? Plus, you should totally rock a skin suit WITH jorts on!!!

dicky said...

I forgot about the PNW post. They had contacted me about trying one, but then... nothing. I guess the idea that I was gonna put it on my Beer Fetcher wasn't enticing enough.

Pretty sure the KS internals aren't swappable.

Dunno when it's available either.

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/ks-272mm-cartridge-enhancements.html


The gold(en) aluminum bolt it for the top cap... and has a long backstory.