New toy for this boy

Siren Mary, Brendan, and Matt stopped by for a bit yesterday.  They are on their way to Banff for Mary’s start to Tour Divide.  Mary looks so good!!!  Calm, strong, witty, she’s in a great space leading to this most epic of epics.  We talked strategy and equipment…they even pulled her bike off the car for us to spin around a bit.  Killer handlebar setup with tons of position options from cruiser upright to aero back stretching.  Sorry, no pics (I was slacking on the camera dept!).

They also left us with this little beauty.

I never thought I could be so excited for a hardtail…my times have changed.  This bike has a long history already…to keep the story short, it never could have happened without Lynda.  It’s been custom built by Brendan to my specs with the goal of multi-day SS forays in mind, hence the big front triangle for frame bag storage.  It’s a 29er.  Did I mention it’s a single speed?

It just so happens I have a pair of sweet liteweight wheels laced up by MC to go on her.  The Explosif is getting canibalized – at a frame weight of 1.5 lbs heavier than the Siren it’s been benched ;) 

There’s been lots of help getting it built up.

First ride in a few hours!  Then I’ll break it in at KMC this weekend.  How better to get the ride dialed, eh?

Time has been tight lately…too much livin’ to keep up on the blog – but TransUtah explorations continue.  The latest was a foray to find an entrance to the west side of the Paunsagunt plateau – not as easy as one may imagine.  Private land everywhere in the valleys beneath the rim, you can get within a mile of Forest Lands most anywhere but that last mile could get you shot…success was finally had though, here’s the teaser.

From June 08