New Parts

Got some new parts to install on the Mistress.


DMR Grips


Chromag Brass Seat Collar- note the lovely brass aspects.


The grips are great. They do the same job as the ODI lock ons but at a mere $20 compared to the $40 of ODI's offerings. The seat collar works well but needs a bit of something to prevent it from spinning when changing seat height.

Next upgrade planned will be a Hope external BB to go with the DMR Exalt cranks I have in the parts bin. Also during the winter I will be replacing the seals on the Hope C2 front of mine as well.

Right now am looking for work in January to help with the rest of the upgrades I have planned.

Hot Mod Suspension

Yep, it seems that Team NFI has been running more like a union shop as of the last month. No posting being done.

So scheduling this year didn't work for any further fall Cross races. Though on the plus side for 2010 there has been some info about dirt bag cheap races. More on that later.

Soon it will be time to switch the Mistress over to cable disc brakes for the winter. Don't want to have to replace any major parts due to salt corrosion. On the plus side am waiting for some parts I have on order to arrive. Though they are taking a bit longer to arrive then expected.

This coming week will be taking the 29er fork into the shop to replace the seals. While doing that I will see if I can add springs into the mix to make it work even better.

Concubine Conversion

Today switched the Concubine from suspension to rigid fork for Cross. It will be much more efficient for this type of racing.

There is another reason for the switch though. that being the right fork seal is now leaking oil. It started almost 2 weeks ago at the Turkey Cross. Now surprise though, they are OEM seals not the Enduro seals that are on the Mistress. Enduro seals are the best.

This winter the Mistress will be the focus of upgrades. Lots planned there. More on that later.

Flowride

Despite the fact I will be racing in the Kingston Challenge in a week. I have been allowing myself this year to spend more time just playing around on the bike.

At the end of the day felt ok though am a little bummed that I cracked one of the shells on the knees. They will be replaced on Tuesday with a set of Beastgear of Pinkbike.

Tomorrow go by the shop for some housing and a front caliper, mechanical so I can have the two 29er forks with brakes all set up so I don't have to swap them every time. It becomes a simple fast swap in the future.

At this time am working on the winter parts build.

Iskiate

Been trying this out for the last month and have had no issues. Here's how to make it,

8 onces whater
2 teaspoons sugar
wedge of lime
2 teaspoons of Chia seeds

Mix water, sugar, and squeezed lime juice. Shake well. Add the Chia seeds and shake. Store in fridge.

Shin Basher

Came down the Circus Highway Maximus for a long Thanksgiving weekend of riding.

Planning on heading to Hamilton tomorrow to ride around. May only be some urban and stuff but still be fun time on the bike. On the way out will be picking up some foam from my buddy Singlesprocket. One sheet is a sleeping pad while the other is to be the back pad for my dirtbag modified pack

Will be racing the Durham Classic on Saturday morning. With some Don riding in the later afternoon. Hopefully see some buddies in the evening as well

Dirty Enduro

Raced Paul's Dirty Enduro on September 16th. Entered the 60k distance.

My weapon of choice was the Concubine with her 4 week old suspension fork. i can definitely say that my hands and forearms still took a beating . But nothing like it could have been if I had gone completely rigid.

Sadly I got to wrapped up in race mode and forgot to pace myself. One needs to keep in mind at all times the distance. This meaning 60 km is along way and muscling to many hills in the wrong gear can screw up your race.

At the 40 km point the outside tendons on my knees basically locked up. So climbing was a chore. Took way longer to finish due to this. But I learned a lesson, don't go to hard.

The decision has been made that for next year I will be doing only the 30km distance,