R O T H A R . C O M

After working in the bike shop on Saturday to keep my hand in on the wonderful world of bikes I made it out for my first ride of the year today. I did manage to set eyes on one of the new Enduro’s, an SX Trail and I have to say that I am impressed with the design and build. The bikes look a lot better in reality than they do in the photos I’ve seen. I think that’s raised my interest in a new full susser for this year and this looks like the favourite.

I also managed to pick up a few bits and pieces that I’ve been waiting for, like th missing top cap off my Z1 Freeride SLs that seemed to take forever to arrive as a spare part. I do have to say that all in all I have yet to be impressed by Windwave’s Marzocchi support, which is disappointing because the forks are all great.

So back to today – Holy Mary Mother of God! Not only have I managed to give myself a monster dead leg in a classic over the handlebars into a big peatbog puddle on todays ride in the Dark Peak, I’ve just stubbed my foot whilst doing the vacuuming and managed to rip off the big toenail on my left foot! It hurts like a bastard and there’s blood everywhere. Where’s the medicinal alchohol? I hope these things don’t occur in three’s because the pain level is escalating.

This is the new Trek Discovery Channel (former US Postal) team bike – looks good from here.

This is the radical new full suspension design that looks set to be developed for Yeti’s downhill rigs next year.

And next Sunday (23rd Jan 2005) will see XC racing returning to Thetford in the form of the second round of this year Marin Thetford Winter Series, the course this time has been extended to 16 Miles and rather than be in the form of last races 2 or 4 hour event, will be a 1 or 2 lap event. I’ll be there.

So it’s 2005. What does this year have in store? Last year started well with lots of riding and gradually tailed off, effectively ending in August. Bit of a bugger that, but then this year might well be the inverse unless I get my act together. So wit that in mind I’ve already started looking at what I want to be doing in terms of riding and racing and events.

This year I’m going to get some riding in stateside and make why over to Pennsylvania for the SSWC in State College. It might be an extended weekend trip, but I’m going make that race. Over here in the UK there are a few rides I’ve still got in mind and at least one of them is going to involve some overnighting and carrying of kit.

So what about bikes? Well there’s a shiny road bike to get built up and some miles to cover on the tarmac, but as to whether there’ll be any new additions to the bike collection I really don’t know. I suppose it’s something that can never be ruled out, because there’s a lot of riding ahead.

Lots of new kit starting to filetr through and Cyclingnews are keeping up well with the task of highlighting it here, here and here. This combination of expensive metals has produced quite possibly the lightest mountain bike suspension forks in the world – check out the Spinner Aeris. Seems to be a definite lack of technical info about them which is a bit worrying.

Petrolhead Jed found this on the t’internet: Fat ass motorbiking. I’m thinking about the fact the days are getting longer and the fact that Apple have just brought out a new iPod and a new Mac.

: H A P P Y : C H R I S T M A S :

News, post-christmas update and a summary of the year with the first update of 2005. In the mean time drink and carnage beckon.

You may have noticed that there hasn’t been much in the way of cycling news or info recently. Basically that’s because there hasn’t been a huge amount that I think is worth talking about. The UCI and the organisers of the three grand tours are currently embroiled in an argument over the implementation of a ProTour – effectively a cycling premiership of the top teams that is supposed (although not currently looking very likely) to be effective from the beginning of next year. Anyway you can catch up on events over at Cyclingnews.

IMBA have also released their annual report card which rates trails on a global basis based on the feedback from trail users. Scotland and Wales both achieved top marks with Scotland being ranked 5th in the world for good trails behind Utah, Idaho, British Columbia and Colorado. There is a summary article here and a more comprehensive report over on the IMBA site.

This week went quickly, but provided an opportunity to catch up with some friends. Thursday night was a trip up to Todmorden for a farewell nightride for Chris and was a further test for the new singlespeed. The forks definitely need a firmer spring in them, because at the moment getting full travel too easily and consequentially are a bit boingtastic.

I’m also beginning to wonder if the Stadium batteries are getting a bit long in the tooth. Don’t seem to be getting the burn time they should according to the battery life indicator. the question is what to replace them with. At the moment these are looking favourite: bikelights.com

Discussion about next years events has already started, but for some next year is dependent on this year being successfully completed first, probably to the accompaniment of barking. Macpupmeister is on a mission.

The movies on this website are all generated using a copy of Halo and a lot of patience. Take a look at Red vs Blue. The real life vs t’internet is how I came across the site, but that was from over at gprime.net. On which you can find some excellent games including this Boston-based snowplow one.

I think it’s safe to say winter is here. Things are looking quite grey out the window from where I’m sitting, but plans are already forming for next year in terms of big rides, trips abroad and races. It’s not even the New Year and entry forms are being made available for some the seasons biggest events. Planned events are now marked up on the racing schedule.

The big thrash seemed to generate a very respectable amount of sponsorship. It was a while ago now, but I thought it was worth a link back. Newcastle-Upon-Tyne to Todmorden was an ambitious route.

Thanks to the Cyclesurgery for a gratuitous rothar.com link. Here is the trailer for New World Disorder 5 (NWD5). What is this about? This is one large mofo you wouldn’t have wanted to bump into when you’re out snorkelling on the reef – well you won’t be anymore.

Whilst wearers of Big Jonny’s LiveWrong bracelets will be fine, this is not good news for the wwearers of the original yellow bands:

From: Associated Press
Date: 10 December 2004

A hospital chain is taping over patients’ LiveStrong wristbands because they are yellow — the same color as the “do not resuscitate” bands it puts on patients who do not want to be saved if their heart stops.

No mix-ups have been reported, but BayCare Health Systems officials do not want to take any chances.

The popular LiveStrong rubber bracelets are sold through the Lance Armstrong Foundation as part of the champion bicycle racer’s efforts to raise money for cancer research.

“It could be confusing, particularly in the situation of a code or a cardiac arrest where people have to think very quickly,” said Lisa Johnson, vice president of patient services at Morton Plant Mease Health Care, which is part of the chain. “We wouldn’t want to mistake a Lance Armstrong bracelet and not resuscitate someone we’re supposed to.”

Hospitals use colored bracelets to quickly tell doctors, nurses and other staff special instructions for certain patients. For example, at BayCare Health hospitals purple bands mean the patient is at risk of falling; red means the patient has allergies. Not all hospitals use the same coloring system.

Yesterday I managed to get out and ride. It really is the first time I’ve ridden since this years SITS, because there was the usual collection of energy bar debris and spares kicking about in the bottom of the camelbak. Anyway it was a bit of a shakedown ride for the new singlespeed and there were lots of things that needed a bit of tweaking and adjustment. End result is I’m very pleased with the new bike, but I need to get out and ride more. A lot more.

Macpuppy is now only one bivvi away from his aim of sleeping out in the big outdoors every month for a year. Now he’s expected certain people who can’t join him on his final Scottish adventure to join him on a series of satellite bivvi’s. Conference calls are to be expected on the 22nd December. Where to stay, that’s the question.

I read the Da Vinci Code when I was on holiday. These days it seems that some people have difficulty differentiating fiction from fact. Which is a bit worrying really. I mean if someone wrote a book about raindows and buried pots of gold…

There was a tribute to Fred Dibnah on the TV last night. The man with the big character from Bolton has finally lost his recent battle with the big C. He will be missed by many.

Let’s start with a bit of a come back to yesterday’s post. Top marks for content and speed of submission.

I think Katie is in need of a good night out…

Usefully the Alaskan Pup has also sent these two vital documents which may be familiar in nature:

::: Permission form for women ::: Permission form for men :::

Jed needs to check out this site if he is still riding the self-sustaining power of one bike. Other fixies or wannabes better take a look too. Other singlespeeders / antisinglespeeders and the everyone else might be interested in this. It’s old but I missed it.

Well Hamilton’s scandal has finally caught up with him. I think this might have been on the cards, but it’s sad to read that it has happened. The UCIs behaviour seems a little odd. Are they trying to keep the lid on something. Worms in side you say? See if you’re top of the game you don’t have to worry about nasty surprises, only the good ones.

World Singlespeed Championships 2005 Announcement: Check the website here

SINGLE SPEED WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2005
Fall update Nov. 18, 2004

The leaves have fallen here in Central PA, cyclocross is coming to a head and the excitement for the Worlds is growing. With over 900 of you on the mailing list, it looks like this year¹s event just may be the largest yet.

InterBike was a blast and the industry is behind us so it’s gonna be a good one! The course is just about set and should offer challenges for every rider. From the challenging climbs, twisting ridge top trails, and fast fire roads vistas, sustained climbs, and a ‘bail out’ for the less fit. ‘Aid Stations’ will be located at key spots to re hydrate and regroup with the boys.

The date (Aug. 20/21) brings riders to town on the quietest weekend yielding empty restaurants, no crowds, and plenty of lodging. In a town used to dealing with 100,000 beer swillin¹’ rowdy football fans, we shouldn¹t even set off the radar

Registration has yet to be figured out. With so many people interested it¹s going to be tricky…be patient, please. Just to clarify, there will be spots set aside for riders from other countries, past winners, and local riders. You will be notified before registration opens!

Unlike some cycling events, this will not be about prizes. One winner per gender and everyone else is second. Whining about placing will not be tolerated. NORBA / USA Cycling will be more than happy to take your money and let you know how many seconds you got beat by…this is about gathering together for the sake of camaraderie.

As of now, look for entry fees to be $30.00. You will get your money¹s worth. T shirt, stein, belt buckle, something-food-drink-epic rides, relax.

As of now, Dirt Rag kids are looking to host a group ride for those of you flying into Pitt. As always, more to come. Derby? Surly kids are talkin¹ trash, so be set to throw down…these kids mean it. Group rides will also be heading out of town here in State College, many of us ride to the forest from town – after the main event.

OK, off to ride my bike……..(take a hint)…….go ride yours!

–Eric Roman

So another exciting weekend slips by and lots of stuff has happened but STILL no riding. This weekend. It has to happen. It is no longer funny. I have to get out there and ride some trails and big hills. It’s one of my favourite times of the year to be riding and I’ve missed most of it. Winter is nigh.

Keep track of your work colleagues/loved ones/dangerous liaisons/St. Bernards (with phone in brandy keg). Yes the big bad world of communications has opened up a publically accessible channel for triangulating the location of mobile phones. I am not sure this is good news.

This article is just a really bad piece of journalism. ‘MOUNTAIN bikers who destroy protected wildlife habitats in Scotland will be fined up to £40,000 under a new law that comes into force tomorrow.’ As has been pointed out elsewhere it is almost as amusingly ill-researched as the “Thrill seeking night riders face near certain death” article which appeared in Scotland on Sunday last year. There’s a (much better) article on the new Nature Conservancy (Scotland) Act in today’s Herald.

The Act itself is accessible via the link (along with the SE press release and explanatory notes) if anyone fancies a gander. I’ve quite possibly mixed up the order of all those. Any way at least Scotland has a reasonable access law. Here in the UK you’ve just got to be cheeky.

I posted some stuff about this at the time, but across the pond, as has recently been pointed out by Chris thanks to the lovely Republican National Convention at the end of the summer, you can now get arrested for riding in a group in Manhattan. Of course, this is against the request by the city that was rejected by the court that would have made carrying a permit necessary. Basically, the NYPD are in contempt. Pictures here.

I haven’t looked at Big Jonny’s site in a while but I bet the big man has some words on the whole situation. Apparently he has some cheeky wrist bands up for grabs too, LiveWrong or something like that.

Then there’s this from the Guernsey connection:

Any suggestions for a suitable counterstrike to such a situation are welcome. In the meantime I depart with the return of a worthy recommended link. Yes the man with the guide dog, the man behind the allegations, as Sugar Ray would say they love to build him up and they love to see him fall. Odds on any shit sticking to Teflon Tony?

So I finally managed to get back on top of things over the last week. Life has just been mental recently.

The PhD is over. Viva a success and I have 12 months to make the corrections required to my Thesis and resubmit. Thank f*** for that. It’s been like a lead weight around my neck for the last few years and now it’s been lifted I feel a lot better.

I’ve updated the Singletrack Archive. I think the mag is getting better, even if the covers seem a bit dull compared to the lovely landscapes and arty photos in the earlier issues. Maybe it’s just me and the geographer in me missing those seasonal landscape shots. At least the Calendar is, as always, looking fantastic.

I finally fettled the new singlespeed into shape. There’s a dedicated page here.

Yes the old one is still up for sale. It’s destickered, cleaned up and pretty much ready to roll. I’ve just fitted a brand new steerer to the Z2 forks too so it’s up for sale with both the rigid blades and a sensible-geometry pair of bouncy forks. If you’re interested or know someone looking for a nice 19″ Singlespeed mail me – the address is at the top of the page.

After far too long I have finally managed to get IF#2 to a built state. It’s not quite finished and I still haven’t managed to get out for a ride on it. By the time it was ready to take photos of it this afternoon the light was fading and the photos came out really crap. I’ll get some more taken when I get out on the beast.

It’s custom geometry (built to fit), with custom paint and panels and brazings. The team at IF did a fantastic job on the panels and they turned out just as I hoped. The finish is almost like that photoreactive paint you get on TVRs, it changes hue depending on the light. I’m really pleased with it. So a pair of singlespeed disc wheels are next, although I haven’t finalised the spec for those. I’ve got some of the new hope floating rotor discs on the way and probably a few other bits and bobs that need tinkering with.

Here are the photos:

_ _

The old singlespeed is still waiting to be sold on. I’ve even got a pair of Bomber forks for it with a brand new steerer waiting to be fitted on. I’ll try and sort that out over the next few days, but with work, the upcoming viva and other stuff I don’t feel I have much time for doing much these days.

Pete Basinger is the Independent Fabrication rider that placed second at this years Great Divide Race. Not deterred he’s doing it again next year and has set up this website. Look Matt Chester’s doing it too! Big respect to Pete and all the riders signing up for this event, it makes RAMM look like a walk in the park. Pete has also suggested:

I understand you do some endurance races over there, so you should consider this one.  If not the GDR, there’s some good winter races in AK that seem to be pretty popular with the Brits (I hope that’s not considered derogatory) www.susitna100.com and www.alaskaultrasport.com.

Endurance racing in Alaska. In winter. Team Rothar? There’s an idea to consider over the Christmas break…

Finally this one is for the girls:

From: Katie
Subject: 20 Reasons

20 Reasons why a girl should call it a night

1. You have absolutely no idea where your bag is.

2. You truly believe that dancing with your arms overhead and wiggling your bottom while yelling “She Bangs She Bangs” is truly the hottest dance move around!!!

3. You’ve suddenly decided that you want to fight someone and you  honestly believe that you could do it too.

4. In your last trip to the toilet you realise you now look more like Lily Savage than the goddess you were just four hours ago.

5. You drop your 3:00 a.m. kebab on the floor, pick it up and carry on eating it.

6. You start crying and telling everyone you see that you love them sooooo much.

7. There are less than three hours before you’re due to start work.

8. You’ve found a deeper/spiritual side to the geek sitting next to you.

9. The man you’re flirting with used to be your biology teacher.

10. The urge to take off articles of clothing, stand on a table and sing or dance becomes strangely overwhelming.

11. Your eyes just don’t seem to want to stay open on their own so you decide to keep them half closed and think it looks exotic

12. You seem to think that it’s a really good idea to get your mates to push you down the street in a shopping trolley.

13. You yell at the bartender, who (you think) cheated you by giving you just lemonade, but that’s just because you can no longer taste the vodka.

14. You think you’re in bed, but the pillow feels strangely like the kitchen floor.

15. You start every conversation with a booming, “DON’T take this the WRONG WAY but…”

16. You fail to notice that the toilet lid’s down when you sit on it.

17. You’re hugs begin to resemble wrestling take-down moves.

18. You’re soooo tired you just sit on the floor (wherever you happen to
be standing)

19. You begin leaving the buttons open on your button flypants to cut down on the time you’re in the bathroom away from your drink.

20. You take your shoes off because you really believe it’s their fault that you’re having problems walking straight.