My local shop, and other random bits

There are a few shops that I really like. Absolute Bikes in Salida, CO has a revolving selection of old bikes, forks, and goodies from the 80s, 90s, etc. that they keep up on the walls to check out. Old DH bikes, old XC bikes, rear forks… they've got a ton of stuff. They're the only shop I've ever seen a FS SS bike built up at. The Absolute Bikes in Flagstaff, AZ was sweet also. Great selection of bikes, clothing, and accessories.

Within an hour's drive there is a terrific shop with good prices, knowledgeable personnel (whether you are in need of road help, XC weight weenie info, or DH gear), and more in stock than you could think to need. Unfortunately they are an hour away, and not really looking to field a strong team of XC'ers (or so it seems to me).

But, my *local* shop, the one I got my first bike from, and my first road bike from, and I will be getting my bike for next from, the owner is pretty cool. I remember a few months after I got my bike the rear shock wound up getting blown up, so I didn't have a bike for a weekend ride. The owner offered me his Moment.

This past week I was asking about the TriNewt light. I was about ready to buy one when he said to just borrow one of his!




So I did. I expected quite a bit from this light being that it's one of the higher rated lights out there (it seems). It's not cheap by any means.

I had a Fire Storm on my helmet and the TriNewt on the bar. Let's just say… the TriNewt wasn't really what I was expecting. The light is really diffuse, so it doesn't focus a spot anywhere in particular, and compared to the helmet light, the light that was coming out of it was not at all bright. Too bad he doesn't have a Slickrock I can use for my upcoming race, eh?

Oddly enough, I just Google'd the light and from a light test with 7 other LED's it was by far the brightest, and the photo made it look SUPER bright. Not sure why the light I was using was nearly dead, though. Maybe I'll see if I can borrow his other one instead?



I hadn't had wine in just over week, but finally broke and opened up a really good bottle of Como Sur (from a set of 20 barrels) Merlot. It's dark, but oh so good.

The end of the rainbow is our local evening loop? Who'da thunk?

Had planned on doing an easy road ride tomorrow in preparation for the XC race on Sunday, but instead I think we're gonna do 1-2 moderate laps at the local loop with an Xterra (age group) World Champ! Should be good times.

My gear is in from Specialized also. Yay for team discounts. Photos later of that stuff.

Question: will I regret that bagel and veggie cream cheese I just inhaled? It was good. I managed to move around my planned food intake for the rest of the day to fit it in so I wasn't over on cals. *sigh* Yay for not even really being able to enjoy food! Just wait for next weekend…when I am eating home made birthday cake for 3-4 days! It's okay, I didn't really need breakfast…or lunch…