Friday, March 28, 2008

Nothing quite like a new bike

Well, I finally had my bike ordered, and Evan and I drove up to Greeley and built it up. And boy is it a sexy machine. But, when we pulled the wheels out of the box, we all noticed that the back wheel had a huge dent in it and the was completely tacoed. Mark decided to swap them out, so instead of the sun rims that were supposed to come on the bike, I now have black mavic rims. Everything else worked like a charm though, the 2008 shimano XT is awesome. It shifts just as well as my dad's old V-Brake XTR. Also, the Hayes brakes feel like a million bucks too.



In other news, me and Evan's trip to Fruita went off without a hitch and we had a blast.



Even though it was practically my first time doing actual mountain biking, I did surprisingly well. I was able to climb well, and descend just as well. I had so much fun, and I cannot wait to slaughter the singletrack on my new 29er.



It was also my brother Evan's first time up this season, and Fruita definitely got him pumped up to mountain bike to help train for road and such. But, he still did some very Estrong like things up on the mountain....



Oh Estrong, always hungry. Eventhough it looks like Evan chowed most of our trail food, I was able to find some to keep me energized. All we need now is Evan to squirt a water bottle all over his face to make him look a modern day super male model.
Despite such good looking fellas up on the trails, we actually saw someone in town, who, believe it or not, was NOT a mountain biker. He still had the idea of two wheels and two legs to get around, but his diet is nothing compared to Estrong's.



After we got back from Fruita, Evan and I decided to go mountain biking with his buddy Justin. We headed up to Waterton Canyon, and made it to the trailhead in record time. We team time trialed it all the way up but once we got to the singletrack switchbacks, things took a turn for the worst. There was still probably a good 6 inches of snow/ice/mud/pine cone combination covering the whole trail. It gave me nightmarish recollections of the state champ cross race. We decided to turn around since a climb that would normally take us a few minutes would have eventually taken atleast an hour to climb, plus, the three of us had places to be.
Well thats pretty much all I have for now.

Life goes on....

Eric

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

mmmm Spring Break....

Well, it has been quite a while since my last post, but not much has changed. I have pretty much just been going to school, and riding every once in a while. I was able to tag a long with Evan to the City Park criterium in Denver a couple weeks ago. It was nice, the weather was perfect and I got to see some faces I hadn't seen since cyclocross season. Also, last weekend, Evan and I rode up to Greeley to help out Dana "El Presidente" Curlee put on the UNC criterium at Promontory Point in Greeley. The race went off without a hitch but there was a huge fiasco involving an overweight rent-a-cop and a parking situation.......
In other news, I placed the order for my brand new 29er which should be here within a couple of days. Evan and I will have to go back to Greeley, build/pick it up, and also pick our new fixed gear frame from Steve at the Roubaix in Greeley.
Spring Break arrived at a perfect time this year. I was getting a little fed up with school at the moment and needed a break. Evan, my Dad, and I decided to saddle up and head west to Fruita,CO. In Fruita, there are some of the gnarliest mountain bike trails in the state and my brother and I had a blast. My dad couldn't ride because, earlier in the week, he crashed his bike and jammed the snot out of three of his fingers on his left hand. His whole hand is nice and swollen and ripe. So, for the trip, I got to use my Dad's awesome mountain bike. He has a custom Yeti ASR with full V-Brake XTR, and believe it or not, it fits me like a charm with only a minor adjustment of the seatpost. I will have some pictures up of me and Evan's adventure, along with my new mountain bike coming up soon on the blog, so stay tuned.

Well, Life goes on....

Eric