The Knave of Burlingame?

Soooo, yeah. No mug for me this year. Enjoy it guy who beat my ass like a dirty rug on the first nice day of spring. Speaking of rugs, or carpets, I was told by Adam St Germain that I should have approached the race as if I was one. Well, one that unfurls and rolls out faster as it goes along anyway. Yeah, not so much. Either my magic carpet was broken, or, more likely, it was really, really short and more like a welcome mat. It ran out somewhere around the horrible dirt road and it was all downhill from there. Come to think of it, that's not accurate at all and if it was then the second half of the race would've been a lot more enjoyable. It was more like I had two flat tires and legs full of battery acid. Yep, that about sums it up. The post race ride with Adam was far more enjoyable as we rode out to the extension for the Sammy C trail and rode it, and Sammy C proper, in a clockwise manner that maximizes the flow factor. It was nice to get in a good ride in some great weather after the beating I took in the race.

The Sinister was not a factor in my implosion and it worked great. Not too surprisingly the low tech and old school shifting department worked flawlessly. Little did I know the recently rehabbed Manitou Minute was on it's last legs and that it would cease working during a great ride with Frate later that week (on Thursday afternoon to be exact). Two weird cracking noises during a climb were all the warning I had before it promptly lost almost all of it's travel. Awesome. Luckily Matt Green of super fast Spooky bicycles fame had hooked me up with a Fox 29er fork at KOB, and after a 10 minute switch over at home we were back riding a bit later at Lincoln Woods with Mike F. The Fox is phenomenal and now I know what all those professional bike reviewers mean by the feeling of "bottomless travel". Over the course of two hours worth of riding in Lincoln Woods today I managed to dial it in and it pretty much rules. The bike as a whole reminds me of my old Santa Cruz Chameleon only with big wheels and that is a huge compliment. Basically any bike that even I can kind of wheelie is all right by me! As a card carrying member of the "can't really wheelie to save my life unless there's a damn good reason" club I gotta say this frame is the best thing since sliced bread. Manuals off of drops are almost too easy and it pops up and over stuff incredibly well. Hopefully Frank makes another batch so other folks can get out and enjoy the Simon Bar.

It was good to see everyone out at the race and I hope a few folks come out to the annual Big River Cleanup scheduled for April 25th. Ah yes, who could resist picking up the detritus of the slovenly residents from the times of olde down at the Big River Management Area in the springtime! What's not to love? But seriously, if you can come and help out it will be immensely appreciated and always helps with our relationship with the trail committee and Water Resources Board. Peter has been busy meeting with the new WRB director and keeping tabs on things in that neck of the woods. A good turnout at the cleanup helps demonstrate how seriously we take our roles as stewards of the area, and it doesn't hurt to meet the other trail users and groups interested in preserving one of RI's best networks of trail and open space.

Brian Chapman, AKA the nicest guy in Providence, (seriously, anyone ever see this guy NOT happy?) took the below shot. A true meeting of the minds if ever there was one, eh? Sort of like Churchill and Roosevelt, or Tom and Jerry...