Hello to an old friend

Today I spent a little time with an old friend...my Haro Xeon. I'm not really sure why I haven't ridden this bike in what seems like ages, but it certainly had a thick layer of garage dust on it along with a couple of not-quite-flat-but-close tires.

When go to take a ride, it goes something like this: I walk out to the garage and stare at the bikes on the wall for a few minutes. Then I decide which bike I feel like riding based on whatever trail I plan on going to.

This morning, I actually picked the super-sonic pink Sonix off of the wall, but discovered the front brake needed to be bled. OK, I'll bleed the brake. After pouring a bunch of mineral oil into the caliper and watching it flow through my little makeshift bleed kit hose after a series of lever pumps, I closed the bleed valve and capped off the resevior only to find that brake fluid was seeping out under the cap. After opening the resevoir back up, I found that the seal was roached.

Since I sort of value having a front brake, I had no other choice but to choose another bike. I've been spending a ton of time on either "big wheels" (650B or 29er) and my road bike, so I really wanted to ride 26" full-suspension. My trusty Xeon is the only other squishy bike I own at the moment, so off the wall it came and went straight on to my roof racks.

I headed out to Daley Ranch; a nice little trail system about 30 minutes south of me in the foothills of Escondido. Sure, a 6.3" travel bike is a bit much for those who are familiar with Daley Ranch, but there aren't too many 6.3" travel bikes that climb as nicely as a Xeon.

I can honestly say that I had forgotten just how much fun that bike is to ride. The Xeon is classified in the "all-mountain" category. A few of us at Haro agree that it's a downhiller's cross-country bike. This bike has admittedly been a bit of a challenge for us...people either "get it" or they don't. It seems that the "lycra set" just doesn't quite understand the slacker seat angle and the longer travel. Those of us who have more of a "gravity " background think this bike rules.

Daley Ranch is sort of mixed bag of climbs (some are particularly nasty), rolling single/double track, and some rutted-out technical downhill sections. What I love most about my Xeon is the fact that it's just so damn comfortable in wide variety of terrain and riding conditions. Even though it's been a couple of months since I've ridden a squishy bike, I felt right at home on my Xeon. I was having so much fun on the bike, I ended up riding far longer than I had anticipated. That's OK...what else was I going to do? I really didn't have anywhere I had to be, so I might as well just ride.

During my drive home, I kept thinking about how nice it was to visit my "old friend" and enjoy a nice ride. I think my Xeon will be seeing a lot more of the trail in the very near future.

Happy trails.

Don't just exist. Live.

Don't say I didn't warn you...this post has nothing to do with bikes. But that's OK...it's my blog so I can say what I want, right?

Sometimes life deals you a bad hand. Sometimes, life deals you many bad hands within a relatively short span of time. When you get dealt a series of bad hands at the poker table in Las Vegas, you just stop playing...but life just doesn't work that way. You can't just walk away from your bad hands and stop playing. You must stay in the game.

Sometimes I feel as if I have been dealt a few bad hands over the past few years. Just like that figurative poker table in Las Vegas, I chose to just "walk away" from the game in an emotional sense. My lack of blog entries over the past several months has been one of many by-products of this withdrawal.

Several events have contributed to me sort of "waking up" to the fact that I need to be playing the game of life just a little differently. I've realized that nobody is going to hand over the good stuff in life on a silver platter...you have to make the good stuff happen for yourself. Visualize it. Commit to it. Make it happen. Don't wait for someday...ever notice that "someday" never happens? I have. Carpe diem...seize the day.

I'm finally realizing that life's big rewards aren't easily attained without taking a bit of a risk. As a society, we spend entirely too much time worrying about trying to look good or avoid looking bad. Sometimes, you just have to be willing to look like a complete jackass from time to time. It's the only way we grow.

So the horse bucked me off. That's OK; it happens to all of us from time to time. I'm ready to get back on and ride it again. There's a real difference between existing and living. When you merely exist on this planet, your life runs you. When you live, you run your life. Don't just exist. Live.

It's time to ride.

Just a few pics from today's ride.

Today I did something I haven't done in a while: went for an afternoon bike ride. I usually ride during my lunch break at work or in the mornings on weekends. I used to ride as often as I could after work once Daylight Savings Time hit...I just love the low sunlight plus it sure beat just going straight home. For whatever reason, I've sort of fallen out of that post-work ride routine...but today I feel like I have fallen in love with it all over again.

This wasn't an epic ride my any stretch of the imagination; just a short 1.5 hour cruise on my Beasley SS at Lake Hodges. It felt great to get out there and enjoy some time on the dirt. Something tells me I'm going to planning far more post-work rides in the coming weeks.

I did manage to remember to take my camera along with me, so I snapped a few pictures. Enjoy!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! Enjoy the holiday with your family and friends. Hopefully, your celebration involves getting on your bike. If you don't celebrate Easter, just go out and celebrate life!

I'll try to post some bike-related stuff next week.

Cheers!

(I took this photo at Borrego Springs a couple of weeks ago...the wildflowers were unreal!)

Just sexy Beasley images and nothing more.

A "gift" from the fires...

The October wildfires were indeed a tragedy for nearly everyone in San Diego. I feel fortunate that the flames only came within about 2 miles from my house. So many others were not as fortunate.

If there's any good that has come out of the fires, it's the fact that the charred hillsides are starting to green up...and the wildflowers are in full bloom on them! It's sort of like a little gift left behind in the wake of destruction.

This photo was taken at Lake Hodges in Escondido, CA. The day the fires started, I was sitting in the middle of the lake in my kayak enjoying an afternoon paddle. At that time, the fires were miles away. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever imagined that about 12 hours after I pulled by boat out of the water, the fires would have completely surrounded the lake and would continue racing westward.

It's hard to believe this hillside was a blackened, charred mess just weeks ago.

Beasley 650B First Ride Impressions

OK, so it's been almost 6 months since my last post. Who knows, it may be 6 months until I post again...I suppose only time will tell. :)

About 6 months ago, I wrote about a test I did with 2 of our Xeon bikes...one equipped with 650B wheels and the other equipped with stock 26" wheels. At that time, our line of 650B bikes were little more than lines on paper. Over the past several months, it's been really rewarding to see our 650B bikes evolve from an idea into flesh and blood...err, I guess rubber and steel would be more accurate. Albeit a small line consisting of just two bikes, I'm proud to say that our Beasley 650B bikes are now a reality and should be available this summer. We had hoped they would come to market a bit sooner, but longer-than-expected factory leadtimes just won't make that possible.

Now that our sample bikes have been photographed for our Spring catalog and have been presented to our sales force at our Spring Launch sales meeting, I finally had the chance to take one out and get it dirty. Product Manager Pat called an early "dibs" on the 1 x 9 which was just fine by me...I really wanted to ride the SS. After pedaling it around in the parking lot, I could tell the 32/17 gearing was going to be a little tall for my outta shape ass. I have admittedly chosen riding my motorcycle or going for a hike over a bike ride on more than a few occasions lately...plus the weather hasn't been all that great over the past several weeks. Excuses...excuses....

Anyhow, I headed out to a local trail system I knew would be singlespeed friendly, the Santa Rosa Plateau up in the Murrieta/Wildomar area. No gut busting climbs...no super gnarly descents...just nice rolling singletrack that flows through a beautiful series of meadows. Perfect for a maiden voyage aboard the fully-rigid steel Beasley SS.

I really didn't know what to expect...whether this bike would feel more like a 29er or a 26" wheel mountain bike. I was hoping that it would live up to what most people say about 650B MTB's...that you get many of the same benefits of big wheels without the big 29" wheel geometry. I'm pleased to say that the little Beasley SS lived up to those expectations. Don't get me wrong...I love my 29ers. But for a "little" person like me (at 5'7"), a 29er is a lot of bike. The Beasley didn't feel like such a big bike...it felt very nimble and quick, yet very stable. Just like a 29er, it climbed with what felt like infinite traction, cornered with stability, and rolled over trail obstacles with ease.

The fork is my favorite part of this bike...it's beautifully made and it's as stiff as hell. But much like the rigid forks on my 29ers, I really wasn't ever left wishing for a suspension fork. Riding rigid really forces you to become a smoother rider. It forces you to pick better lines, relax your arms more, keep your momentum up, and just flow with the trail like water. Only on the gnarliest of descents do I miss having suspension.

The fact that the Beasley is steel also lends to the fun factor...steel truly is real. It yields a ride unlike any other material. It's lively, yet stiff enough so you "feel" the trail. I definitely feel more "one" with my steel bikes, that's for sure. Steel frames also just look great...since you can make frames out of smaller diameter tubes, steel frames look sleek and svelte.

I won't bore you with too many more words, but in a nutshell, this bike rocks. I had a blast on it. Other than the gearing being a little much for me, I don't know that I'd change a thing on it. It steers great...not too fast, not too slow. The On-One Mary bars are perfect for rigid singlespeeds...very easy on the wrists. And unlike some 29ers, I've got plenty of standover thanks to the graceful bend in the top-tube (it's there for a reason).

I sure hope everyone else likes our new Beasley bikes as much as I do. That's sort of our goal...to create bikes that are just darn fun to ride.

I'll leave you with a few pictures I took on the ride today. Enjoy!