Sunday Norchaux Tour

Last Sunday, Mr. and Mrs. Outlaw accepted our invitation for a tour of Norchaux trails. A little pow-wow with LarryLarry gave me an idea of what they have and have not seen in Michaux...as well as what lies and flummery he'd been feeding them about the stellar trails up here.

So, we tried to make good on his campfire tales of epic singletrack and, with five other locals thrown in the mix, led a 5 and a half hour tour of our backyard.

Joe let me try out the Jones and I gave it back to him with a flat tire. Now that's being appreciative. The spare tube looked like it was a victim of a strafing run--it was definitely a case of Re-use! Which reminds me--I have a slew of tubes to patch in the basement.

A few stops, a flat, a couple beers, fun trails, and of course the obligatory ribbing and joking, all added up to a great ride.

Waiting while Joe fixes my flat on his bike

Slab-arific

What post would be complete without a shot of a bee butt?

For those that know me....

They'll know why I think this is a kick-ass birthday gift.

Yes, my birthday was a few months ago, and we just finally acquired my gift...

All-Clad 6.5 qt. French Braiser.

First dish in it?

Ratatouille last night with a bunch of the fresh local veggies we have.

I have mad plans for this fly piece of cookware.

RNR? Part III...Speedbumps

While not providing a very solid trail surface, it was determined that the red speedbump was, indeed, rideable, as evidenced by the tracks left in picture 2.

The Attempt

The Proof

What I Learned on My Summer Vacation

You can eat these. Yeah, the orange things.

Thanks for the knowledge, Brian.

Ellicottville Epic

We accepted the Muckers' invitation to the Ellicottville Epic this year--a swell three-day weekend of riding in northern PA and western NY. Friday saw about 17 miles of northern PA state forest singletrack love. Saturday was the 31-mile Ellicottville IMBA Epic route with ups, downs, rocks, boulders, roots, swoopiness, and fun. It was wetter than usual due to E-ville receiving roughly 4-6 inches of rain at the beginning of the week, making the tech sections a bit more challenging. Saturday night was a fine feast of pot luck magic with beers and margaritas to wash the good grub down. Instead of chancing wickedly slick roots at Golden Hill on Sunday, we opted to hit up Rockton again in PA on the way home with drier trails.

This ended badly.

Great weekend on great trails with great people.

Bianchi Axis SS Complete

Well, almost. Still tinkering with the proper gear ratio for primarily fire road riding in Michaux. And overall fit, like handlebar position, seat position . . .

Mix of old and new parts, and keeping the Celeste where it counts. Now that Sweetie's is done, just have to finish mine!