new stuff

Chris King has been promising delivery of a bottom bracket for years. They held off during the Octalink and ISIS years, neither of these were bottom bracket options that they wanted to pursue. Then the new and current external bearing design has taken off and has pretty much been adopted by the world. Now this seemed to be something King could grasp. We even saw some early pics from the FELT designers where they actually had a King headset pressed into a threadless bottom bracket shell. Pretty cool.....it was only a matter of time.





So as a huge believer of their in-house made bearings we're very happy to announce that we have good stock of their new bottombracket. And in true typical King fashion.....available in a plethora of flavors.

Kalispell CX

So the Kalispell events went well......we headed up north this past weekend to race CX on both saturday and sunday. The early morning wakeup on saturday was rough though and then the proceeding 3 and a half hour drive up to race at 10:30 am was even rougher. But it even gets worse when you have a young lad Karl Vanderwood from Helena and now racing for MT Velo kicking your arse in the mens B field. Allthough after a tough course that consisted of plenty of climbing and a bad start i managed to work my way up into a small group which was tailing Karl by 30 seconds. Eventually myself and another fella from Whitefish ended up riding together for the remaining race.....we stuck together tightly and on the last lap i managed to form a small gap and for a brief second i thought i was going to sneak into 2nd place. But i wasn't the one sneaking as the cyclist from Whitefish managed to catch me within 30 yards of the finish and he eventually came around me nipping me at the line. Oh well......i'm just out there for the pain....right ?


On sunday and on a different course, cold weather, and with a smaller field .....Karl-less with his recent departure to race with the fast guys. I managed to get a good jump on the field and took off at a decent pace. It didn't feel as painful as usual and my small gap got a little bit larger. I keep riding hard, enjoying the singletrack sections of the lap and then i noticed that my course flags dissapeared.....i looked around me just in time to see the rest of the field go buzzing by ! Yep.....i took a wrong turn. Maybe i should have prerode the course more than once : ) , so i turn around and ride like hell to catch the new leaders. It took about a 1/2 lap to catch back up and another 1/2 lap to catch my breathe from the effort but i eventually worked my way around and back into the lead taking one other cyclist with me. We worked together for the remainder of the race and then on the last lap on a small run up that i was able to ride, created a small gap on him that i held to the finish line. A win in the b's is a win. But i'd eventually like to suffer in the back of the pack with the mens A group. Maybe soon, maybe in time for the MT state championships.


Matt Baldwins pics from Off the Grind

cyclocross

welp......i survived. I hurt like hell for an entire hour, thought about quitting the race about 15 minutes into it as my stomach felt like it was turning completely inside out. Yessir indeed, pure hell for those first minutes......so, instead of focusing on that damn pain i started to focus in on the fun sections of the course. And there were many as reminded to me by my three kiddo's who were sitting course side with trident in hand. Actually trying to spear me in the arse. Okay kids.....i get the point. (and thanks for instigating the juvenilles Howie)


So, with that in mind i noticed the race beginning to be half enjoyable, and before i knew it the race was down to three very short but intense laps. I was sitting in 7th and just caught by a group of 4. Crap ! I tried hanging on but all four were much faster in the flat sections that required hard pedaling. I ended up satisfied with 11th place out of the forty or so starters. Chalk it up. This next weekend.....Kailspell MT for two back to back days of hellish pleasure. So kiddos......bring on the trident !! Link for this weekend


and thanks to the fellas and gals at Montana Cyclocross for the fantastic, well organised event. You've certainly put on one of the best cycling events in MT.

Rolling Thunder

third stop on the Montana Cyclocross series is tonite and under the ballpark lights.........racing begins at 4pm in Missoula at the American Legion Park. I'm signing up for the pain but am actually going for the good times and free beer. So wish me luck on all three.

check here for the details.

www.montanacyclocross.com

pics from the 3rd annual Chicken Crit

the annual Chicken Crit has come and gone......once again i drew up enough courage to ride the tyke bike as did almost twenty others. I probably shouldn't have rode and just sat my arse to the sidelines to officiate ; ) as i ended up scoring one of my roughest crashes of the year and also managed to come across the finish line with my shoelaces completely wrapped up on my pedal spindle.......thinking back i don't think that's happened to me since i was about 6 years old. Oh well......the things that happen when you tip a few back.

So here's the race wrap up......Dillon, our good pal from Missoula was easily the fastest thing on 16" wheels but with a slight self made course modification he earned a DISQUALIFICATION !!!! Thats right...you heard me correct, first time ever in CC history. But don't worry...... Dillon more than made up for it by being one of the first to go down the cattle ramp, sacked up for the fire jump and easily had the finest dress attire of the bunch (allthough B George's embroidered shirt made for a close second). But anyway......that gave Hamilton's very own Tim " Big Kahuna" Buhl the victory. And we all know how he deserved it......he trained hard all year. Ate the right foods and substained from alcohol and sex. We're proud of ya timmie. Hot on tim's wheel was my beautiful wife Tracy......she was smoking fast and she made pedaling the small bike look natural. Third place was taken by Lance....very well done sir !

AND......the offical standings:

1 - Tim "BK" Buhl 51sec

2 - Tracy D 54sec

3 - Lance P 57sec

4 - Chaybo 1.01

5 - B George 1.03

6 - Dan Gager-bomber 1.07

7 - Alaska Jim 1.08

8 - Cassie 1.10

9 - the flying kiwi Warwick 1.13

10 - Shrek 1.16

11 - Dean the machine 1.20

12 - Jeff 1.23

12 - Shiela 1.23

14 - Jerome 1.26

15 - Thomas 2.18

and a few pics before, during and after:

socializin'

cass & tra

yours truely laying out the course and the rules (which changed by the minute)

safety first.

the course......first you had to chug a brew, and then thread your way down the cattle ramp. Once safely down the ramp you headed off into darkness and around the barn.

if you were lucky enough to make it this far, eventually you were guided by the light of the bonfire, a bunch of hecklers and small jump

gotta love this photo, which gives "trusting in your partner" a new meaning.

after you got past the jump you headed around the power line that Jenny tried taking out with her subie and then back down the road and across the teeter-totter from. A few more feet past this and you arrived at the finish.....and if you made it around the course without crashing you were one of the few. Easy to do......if you didn't par-take in the socializin' : )

and a few other noteable pics, the hecklers:

campfire hucking

campfire hucking gone bad

new schwalbe fat alberts

these are the new Fat Albert front and rear specific tires and an increase from a 2.35" size to 2.4". We also have the regular sized Albert that comes in 2.25"

750 g for 2.4" size

670g for 2.25"

End of the year gathering