What’s not to like about this place? Once again the crew at Decline rolled out the red carpet for us industry types for a 3 day symposium. We got to mingle, ride, eat and play.

Josh and I arrived with our Highline and Socom fitted with some test worthy Double Barrels ready to hit the mountain. We had 3 days to wear ourselves out. After a great breakfast and industry meeting each morning we would hit the mountain. This was the first time Josh had been to Whistler, so he was a kid in a candy store for sure.

I wanted to keep Josh in one piece and work him up to the top of the mountain as the days went by. Well by day two he had snuck up top with the Marin boys and was crazy hooked. Me I was working Dirt Merchant and A Line over and over again. It’s an old racer thing for me to keep dialing in the same trails and hitting lines, not to mention getting some shock testing done. By the second day Josh was hitting backside on all of the jumps he could find and getting really smooth. I was proud of my engineer bringing his desert racing style to the show.
Then it hit me, on my way up to Freight train. For some reason the chair lift up really started bugging me, my fear of heights kicked in, I guess I’m getting old. I’ve been a little tweaked on heights all of my life but this hit me hard dangling up there on that lift. I would make sure Josh would talk to me the whole way up to keep my mind off the subject. Weird stuff, I will jump a bike but freak on a high chair lift. I wasn’t going to let it ruin my trip though.

I could stand riding up on the lower lift with not much drama, so I kept riding Dirt Merchant, Schleyer, Lower A line etc. There’s a lot to ride and dial in or get in trouble on depending on your mood. Later on the second day Josh and I met up with Paul from Intense and set off on a photo spree. I suck at taking pictures, so what you see is what you get. In the evening after dinner while others were hanging at their desired haunts, Josh and I went to the dirt jumps for a little fun and watch the skaters at the skate park. Good stuff.

By the third day I was tired but was riding well, so I was pushing it a little more than usual. I stopped for lunch met up with our Decline gang, Josh kept ridding. I went to the bike shop to look around for a bit came back out and I see my boy Josh all bent over at a table with a crowd around him. You know what that means: man down. Josh had overcooked a turn on A line and down he went. After some x rays at the clinic it was confirmed, Josh had chipped a bone in his wrist and elbow. Not all bad, it just made for a lame ending to the trip. Many thanks to all who helped that afternoon!

All in all it was a great time and a good chance to test some new shock ideas…wink.

Herndon invited me to see the new Headwaters Outfitters and Brevard College Slalom and Downhill facility in Brevard.

The wonder twins (Herndon and Haley) were putting on a Slalom clinic and asked me to join them and give a little gate instructions to the clinic crowd.

I brought the usual Cane Creek dog and pony show to the event. Set up a tent and brought Double Barrels and 110 headsets displays for all to see.

To see these tracks cut in the mountainside is amazing, not to mention it’s in the shade. These guys have worked overtime on this project. It’s a true Euro type Slalom and DH course built in a compact area perfect for training and honing your skills.

I had a blast with the clinic and getting to know the riders, plus playing on the course for the better part of the day. Watching Herndon and Haley go at it on the Slalom was a treat. Thanks to Wes D. for feeding me, that hit the spot.

Until next time.

I landed a day early in SF and got to play tourist, then Josh and Pete picked me up at the hotel and gave me the West Coast education on the way to Sea Otter… Someday I’ll get those boys down South where snakes, gators and swamps have a whole new meaning.

The event was rain free, so I can’t call it the Sea Water this year. But the wind…

It was good to see our newly sponsored CRC/Intense and Team America teams in action. During the weekend, we were busy getting the teams familiar with the Double Barrel. It’s a great information feast. Each rider brings a different twist to how they want their own shock set up. It’s really different what the World Cup riders want a shock to do compared to what I want out of the shock. In simple terms, I don’t and won’t ever reach their level of speed and sheer aggression they put the shock through.

Also got to see the dual slalom practice and finals… where I got the What The Flip Am I Doing Here? award for standing on a hillside while being wind- and sand-blasted into a sand sculpture. (Note: Above photo not actually from Sea Otter, but it might as well be.)

If you made it by the Cane Creek tent you would have seen the Gold sprints going off. Basically pedal ’till you puke against your rival. Murphy and Ian had those poor souls in the palm of their hands. Oh, and thanks to Chuey for the hats.

Pete and Paul installed plenty of 110 headset upgrades during the 3 days. It was good to see the riders turn out for that one.

No matter how good you are or how good you think you are, there’s always someone lurking with more talent.

Case in point: my 13 year old son. A go-all-day, long hair, hesh skate rat, who can ride a bike real fast DH when he wants to.

I set up a bike with a Double Barrel and a 200lb spring. We proceeded to hit Greens Lick. This trail is like an old school BMX track that points down hill. Before we head down, I tell him, “Chill behind me, I’ll keep my speed down so you don’t get over your head”
 
“Whatever, Dad”

So right off this little guy is putting a wheel on me, dragging his foot roosting corners and just plain being a pain. (The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree…) I see his bottom bracket near my head on one jump. He’s hurling no brakes just because.

If my son’s generation is any indication and the hammered rear wheel and tire factor into this, I’d say the future of this sport is in for more like him lurking, waiting to show us all the way.

I got out this weekend for an incredible ride, one that really made me question my “ideal bike”. I wanted to give Cane Creek’s Double Barrel equipped 2008 Turner Highline a go in some rocky fast stuff.

The trail I had in mind requires some serious climbing though, and the prospect of doing it on a 7″ travel bike certainly had me calculating the pain/benefit ratio.

Once I got going I couldn’t have been happier. Since the Highline has a full length seat tube, I could get into a full leg extension position for climbing. This along with a front derailleur and a few extra clicks of low speed compression into the Double Barrel turned the Highline into a respectable climbing bike. I rode everything I could have ridden on a “little bike” or a hardtail… just slower.

I found myself enjoying the challenge of it, cranking a “big bike” up the long, steep, technical uphill sections. At the top I was tired, sure, but had cleaned everything and gotten my cardio in for the day! Also, I was at the top of a 15min downhill with a super bike… fantastic.

The ride really made me appreciate a full length seat tube (enough seatpost for climbing and can also be dropped down for descending), clearance for a front derailleur, and the zero-bob attained by the suspension design/Double Barrel shock combo. For me, a bike that can’t be ridden up the hard stuff just isn’t much fun since I like riding uphill almost as much as down. Getting this ability from a 7” bike opens up a world of possibilities. I won’t be winning any races on it, but for a day in the woods, I’ll be taking the Highline (or similar) far more often than I would have previously.

The last 15 minutes of your ride should be fun. That is until you pass someone giving them plenty of verbal warning and room they still drift into your line, so you give them more room. Now, you move over more, they drift more. It’s hard to stop a train wreck. Now it’s time to take a beating, served up by wet leaves, a wet log under the leaves, which now is as slick as a wet PVC pipe.

Well you get the idea, a lame 15mph yard sale. All I hear is “dude, you alright?” I can’t say anything to this guy, ’cause whatever I say is gonna be bad. At first I can’t feel anything, then the wave of pain starts… Anger, pain, anger.

You know it’s not as if the guy tried to make me ride off into no man’s land, but. Just hold your line and all would have been fine. Don’t bring the suck!

So I hobble back to the truck, the blood starts flowing out of the cuts and gashes from the fall. My left knee swells up. I’m starting to get a love handle on my left side that wasn’t there before the ride. Clean up from this crash is gonna hurt.

For some reason dumb slow falls like this hurt more than anything else. I mean after breaking 24 bones in my career. It still baffles me how this type of crash can leave you so jacked up.

Congrats to Chris Herndon for taking care of business down South, with a win in Clemson!

Congrats to Julien Camellini for taking care of business down South as well… the South of France that is. Julien won the opening round of the French South East regional championship. Riding the CRC sponsored M6 with his new gold Double Barrel.

It’s wide open on the Cane Creek home front. Warm weather will do that… Warm weather also means urban Motard time. Ahh yes, wheelies and drifts on the way to work. Sketchy motorists beware…

The Double Barrel is now available with a 3.5″ stroke to fit Trek Session 10 and Intense M6. Both Ti and steel springs are available.

It seemed like ages since I really rode.

Sure I had been on a bike; I’d thrown a leg over a few rigs for parking lot spins, ran up to the store on my commuter, but as far as really riding… it had been a long while. Last weekend though, after putting my 6 month old daughter down for her morning nap, I dusted off my trusty old Tuscany for a couple hours in the saddle.

At first it hurt as my heart rate jumped up close to my max BPM and my body struggled to keep up with my contorted sense of “easy spinning”. The problem is, I still think I’m fast. What was a leisurely big ring climb only months ago is now a paced breathing effort. As I huffed and puffed along to my secret entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway I was surprised at how quick my fitness had gone and the real climbing hadn’t even started. As the road steepened, it was slow going at first, even for me. I could barely turn over my 39×27 (I used to spin a 39×23 up this thing!).

After about 10 minutes of this, my heart rate settled down, I started pedaling circles, and a smile started slowly emerging from my grimaced face. It felt great, really breathing hard, controlling the effort but getting that connection with the bike back, ticking off the elevation, turning over the cranks, letting the shoulders down.

After about an hour of this I turned around and headed back to relive my wife from her solo mission at home. Soon thereafter a twosome passed me, just flying. Instinctively I punched it to catch on. They were hammering, but it was easy to suck wheel, and when we had to part ways, they smiled and waved as I thanked them for the pull.

Being back on two wheels, feeling the intensity of a steep climb, the rush of screaming downhill, and taking advantage of the orchestrated chemistry of two guys in a hurry… it was a great ride.

Just need it more often…

When Cane Creek sat down to design the 110, it was clear that we all wanted something different, something at a whole new level. Engineering got a green light to make no compromises so we could put 110% into every detail.

As a testament to this effort the Astana cycling team has chosen to ride the Cane Creek 110 headset on all bikes, from the team Madones to the TT rockets. We are happy to see the fruits of our labor being appreciated and the benefits enjoyed by people who not only love to ride, but who make a career of winning.