Mark E Mark and I will be heading to Vega$ tomorrow night to attend the Interbike tradeshow. Vega$ is not my favorite place in the world - too smoky and too scummy (talking about the strip and freemont st - not all of Vegas - I'm sure there are decent parts somewhere). I like the gambling (I'll probably lose $40-50) for about an hour or so, and the tradeshow is fun, but it is definitely a tiring excursion. Because we are in Vega$ on Wednesday - there is NOT a Thrilla in the Milla race this week. The last race will be NEXT Wednesday - Oct 4. If you're gonna be in Vega$ this week - keep an eye out for Mark E Mark and me.

Mark E Mark and I will be heading to Vega$ tomorrow night to attend the Interbike tradeshow. Vega$ is not my favorite place in the world - too smoky and too scummy (talking about the strip and freemont st - not all of Vegas - I'm sure there are decent parts somewhere). I like the gambling (I'll probably lose $40-50) for about an hour or so, and the tradeshow is fun, but it is definitely a tiring excursion. Because we are in Vega$ on Wednesday - there is NOT a Thrilla in the Milla race this week. The last race will be NEXT Wednesday - Oct 4. If you're gonna be in Vega$ this week - keep an eye out for Mark E Mark and me.

Wow, what a fun race last night. We actually had real cross weather - rain, cold, wind - it was awesome. The course was actually muddy, which is a rarity in Central Oregon in September. Thanks to all 66 or so riders that showed up for the race. Please remember that there is NOT a race next Wednesday - but the following week - October 4th. Hopefully Henry will get a few pictures of the race up pretty soon.

Ski stuff is finally starting to arrive. Poles, Boots, etc. First skis should be here within a week. Get ready!

New products shown at Eurobike have sprouted all over the web. Some of the cooler things I have seen are the Pace 29er forks, new frames and 29er rims from Salsa, new 29er tires from WTB and Panaracer and some other cool items. Of course, as soon as all of this is available, we will have it. One thing that I didn't see in any pictures, but rather in person, was a prototype 2 ring XTR crank. A certain MTB pro here in Bend brought it by the other day fresh after a great result in Germany at the WorldCup finals. It was set up with a 29/44T set up - very cool if you ride geared bikes. Not sure if Shimano will be producing the crank or not, but I hope so.

Thrilla in the Milla is going well. Unfortunately, the increase in riders is tearing up the grass more than expected, and the Mill has asked us not to use the grass this week - sorry everybody - but the barriers will be in the dirt. More tomorrow - I hope.

The first race in the 2006 Thrilla in the Milla Cross Series was last night. It was a lot fun. Setting the thing up, running the race, and tearing it down happened in 4 hours. How great is that? Compared to every other event that we put on, that is nothing. Mark and MeanTodd started setting up at 5, with some help from John Rollert and maybe some others. I got down there just before 5, we had help from Gene, Amy, and Brett, and of course my super helpful and much appreciated parents, DickieG and FJ. The race started almost on time - about 3 minutes late. Since it was the first race and we wanted to make sure people came back for next week - we kept the race to 35 minutes plus 2 laps. Because we have everyone going at the same time, it gets confusing keeping track of the leaders. Ben Thompson won the A race, Patty Buerkle won the Women's race, and Jeff Fuchs and Mike Albright won the B and B40+ races. Congrats. Thanks to Crazy Mike for helping out in the water pit. We'll be out there again next week - so please come on down and cheer on your friends, or hop in the race.

Alright - 1 more day until the first cross race of the year. We will be closing early tomorrow night so that we can set up the course and be ready for it. Registration starts at 5, racing begins at 6. Be there or be square. Hopefully some of the fast guys in town will show up and we'll have a super fun race to watch. Thanks to Cascade Lakes for giving us a bunch of beer (winners get a six pack (except for the juniors), Redvines for licorice, Vulture Cycles for the trophies, Redline Bicycles, and of course, Nancy P's for their super awesome treats! Thanks Steve and Nancy. If you know anyone at any of these companies, please thank them for supporting these cross races.

Well, after over a dozen years of riding nothing but Campy on the road, I finally tried something else. I had the chance to put the new SRAM Force onto my Salsa Primero. I did the whole group except for the crank, which is an FSA K Force. I had to get rid of my Mavic Wheels, so I got a set of the DT Road wheels. They end up being about the same weight as the Ksyriums, but they have 28 spokes, which is probably a good thing for my fat ass. The XL frame, built with Thomson stem & post, SMP Evolution saddle, K Force bar, Alpha Q fork, King headset, and SRAM Force comes in at 17.5 pounds with my speed play pedals. Not too shabby for a big steel bike.

The SRAM set up real nice. Everything went together easily and I had no issues with anything. The innaugural ride was on Sunday with Super Dave. Everything seemed to work flawlessly except when I was pushing the big meat - the high limit screw on the rear derailleur must be just a hair off - as it didn't want to stay in the 11T cog. But that's an issue with me, not the SRAM stuff. Picking up the shifting is pretty simple. I assume that you get used to just about anything, and after two rides, SRAM feels about as simple as the Campy that I have ridden for over a decade. I do miss being able to shift with my pinky from the flats - but thats life. I'll keep riding it and see what I think of it after a few hundred miles.