All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

My favorite kind of trails.

 

I also want to try other shoes. My free rider pros aren’t that bad but they just aren’t stiff enough for me. I’d like a boa shoe with a stiffer sole ideally so I can adjust while pedaling or loosen when climbing. My feet have been hurting pretty regularly with the free riders. Considering some of the ride concepts or fox shoes, just curious on stiffness and grip.

I think the trainer is the best z1/2 workout available. Throw on some YouTube and just pedal for however long. The only thing is fit is crucial, especially for the z1/2 rides where you’re sitting so long. My bike fit is fine on gravel and even road rides over 2 hours but sit on the bike on trainer for 30 minutes to an hour and I’m not comfortable.

I’d also like to dial in a desk setup so I can do other stuff during easy training rides. There have been times where I’d like to do some homework or edit photos or something but have to reach for the keyboard in front of my bars which is less than ideal haha.

overall I’d recommend it. I like my wahoo core or whatever it’s called these days with a zwift subscription

 

Forgot this part. Shot the gravity social dual slalom race in Maryland this weekend. This first video was the last run of the race for the pros. The winner is trying to hit the World Cup next year so he’s super dialed, everyone had to push super hard to keep up. This kid pushed hard keeping up into the 2nd turn but fell pretty hard. Rolled down after getting back up and hit a casual backflip to close out the night. This is such a cool race, highly recommend racing or spectating next year if you’re nearby.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPcsV18iOHp/?igsh=aHVleTQyOTRtN3Zj

This first guy is the pro winner, such a fast dude.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DPd3EqQjXSo/?igsh=MWwxa2dyaWYzZzZlZw==

 

Rode South Boundary between Taos and Angel Fire over the weekend. We camped near the top so essentially made it a shuttle ride with only a few hundred feet of climbing compared to the IMBA epic with a couple thousand feet of climbing. Leaves were popping off. The last few miles into Taos were chunky thunder for sure. Super rad. Shuttle math even worked out with 10 riders lol.





Then rode some Angel Fire laps on Sunday before driving back to Colorado Springs.
Everything is so chunky down there lol.

 

Nice! what day did you do it? We got some really unique conditions on burro. straight up full graupel for a little bit and then way freezing. and windy af all the way to the rim.

 

That looks like fun. I'm just back from a first visit to Santa Fe and Taos. It was a family tourist-style trip with no bikes. Interesting country for a guy from MI where we have water everywhere. Is bike rental a realistic option in that area? Years ago I flew out to Alberta and toured between Jasper and Banff national parks. I packed up the bike in a bike box--made it out OK but got a bit beat up on the return trip. And that was in the day when there was a high likelihood of actually getting there on time. Not sure I'd want to ship a bike with current airline performance.

 

Not really sure about rentals in the area unless youre getting one from angel fire to ride angel fire.

its been a long time since i've shipped a bike and it was a performance bike shop to a performance bike shop there and back for CO to CA. if i had to get my bike somewhere and i was flying, i would just check it in with my baggage and skip shipping. other people in here probably have more recent experiences though.

 

My bike went as airline luggage back then. I think if I were going to move a bike, I'd ship it separately rather than rely on the airline. Maybe others have better advice?

 

Shuttling F&L?

 

Shipping can be nice if you don't want to deal with a bike in the airport. Lots of people use bikeflights.com for that, but you can also use regular FedEx/UPS if you've got access to good rates.

Checking a bike as baggage is also fine. I've flown both domestic and international with a bike. It's like any other baggage, but bigger. There's a good chance you'll have to pay oversize/overweight fees (read the airline policies closely, they can be a moving target). You'll also have to navigate the airport's oversized baggage handling counters and pay for an oversized rental car or Uber/cab. I've never dealt with a connection, only direct. A Connection with a bike would make me a little more nervous, but at the end of the day it's not much different from any other baggage.

Whether you ship or check, make sure everything is packed to protect against both knocks and abrasion. TSA will almost 100% open a bike bag, so keep that in mind as you pack. You can ship or check in either cardboard boxes (ideally from a bike shop, but a furniture store works in a pinch) or a dedicated bike bag (Evoc is popular in my circle).

My advice is, to ride for a day or two in the middle of a longer trip trip, I'd rent. If the sole purpose of the trip is to ride, I'd bring my own bike. Between checking and shipping, I'd prefer to check, but might still ship depending on logistics to/from the airports.

 

My old Ride Concepts are much stiffer than the Freerider Pros I’m currently wearing. Just try them on if you can before you buy. The Hellions run small, they call it low volume. I am normally a 10.5 and that is what I ordered. They are very snug. If I hadn’t gotten them on an end of year clearance steal of a deal I would have sent them back. I have heard other shoes are similar for RC.

 

There are some rental options in Albuquerque and I think Santa Fe as well. Depending on where you fly into, it could work out for you. As for Taos, I don’t know the bike scene there, so can’t say.

 

I really like the Spesh 2FO DH shoe, and my buddy likes the trail shoe. THey're stupid cheap right now, Google them. Honestly, best wearing shoe I"ve had, and fantastic grip. I have zero complaints, actually bought another pair for next year. I typically go through 2 pairs a year (about 1K miles) and I'm still on the first pair.

Friday. I saw the weather coming in, went for it. It was windy AF on the rim too, which is super interesting with some of those moves. Some of the exposed fast ledgy sections were interesting
Top was fan-damn-tastic though. It has rained a day or two before.
Rushed through it in about 3 hrs.

TWE in October is always a roll of the dice.

 

Ended up ordering a Pivot Les to "replace" the gravel bike. So if anyone is in the market for a barely used 56cm Diverge - im your guy!

 

I’ll have to see if any shops nearby carry them. I don’t have a super wide foot but I’ve been wearing altras recently and my feet are definitely used to the extra space now haha.

I’ll need to check the specialized ones. Probably easier to get those too. Just not actually sure that there is a specialized shop nearby haha

 

yeah. October is so variable. but very unique for sure. i definitely skipped a few of the drops because of the wind. Hazzard was difficult with getting blown every which way. lol. nice work though. 3 hours is not bad at all!

 

27.5 and 200mm of travel. gnarly. its cool af, but dont need it to send the 6 inch drops i ride lol

 

It would be a crazy fun park bike! However, there's this..."Weight: 39.4 lb / 17.9 kg (Large w/ pedal, actual)." Pinkbike has a review and lots of photos up now.
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/first...iconic-bottlerocket-and-the-good-ol-days.html

 

lol i read pink bikes review earlier

"they said dont pedal it so i pedaled it", lol

im getting too old to get more than 2-5 park days a year. none of the shuttles around me are pure downhill either. my 2019 patrol is close enough since i put the 170 zeb up front

 

late to the party but yes, SF has some rentals -- sizing can be limited; call ahead or book ahead for sure. Broken Spoke in SF will let you book online -- great shop either way if you bring your bike and need something. They spent a loooot of time helping me get exactly what I wanted recently.