My new Mule hydration pack. The cheap eBay army one broke (leaked), guy gave me a refund though, so all good.

This Camelbak Mule has heaps of room, great for my pump, spare tube, tools + energy bars. Thought I’d buy the best this time around!

Yesterday I mucked around with the set-up some more. I felt stretched out a little on Sunday so I’ve made some adjustments. I realised the low riser bar was mounted pointing forward quite a bit. This made the bar about 40mm further away from me to the front and about 30mm higher too. I’ve now adjusted it back towards me some more, re-adjusted the brakes/shifter and everything feels a little better but I’ll have to test it out on a trail soon to be sure. I’ve also noticed the stem’s got a pretty big angle on it, and I’m tempted to try a shorter stem with less rise.

I also just whacked on some gear I had lying around from my single speed build. Namely some red KCNC ring bolts and alloy water bottle bolts. All lighter and as strong as the stock items, so no harm done. I also had a KCNC jockey wheel (only one though lol) from the single speed’s tensioner which I am no longer using so on it goes.

LOL

I’d put it off for ages, and turned down a few offers to feature in in other magazines but my mates work at ASM Magazine so I’d always known that if I did feature the car anywhere, it would be with them. Best thing is though that Charles Kha (editor) let me write the feature! Something they’ve never done in Auto Salon Magazine, and Mark Pakula was willing to shoot it in a studio (as opposed to the street). I really wanted a black studio shoot, but settled for white. The feature ended up beaing spread over 12 pages and the only thing I hate is the picture of me in it (totally ruins the shot of the car!).

View all the pages in high res here.

Yes I fell in the mud.

Yes my brand new Van Bucky Lasek’s are fucked.

Yes I flew over the handlebars.

A lot of alcohol had been built up in my system from a week at Sandon, then B’day drinks and last night’s belated Mothers Day dinner and drinks. I had to burn it all off and what better a way than re-visiting the Dam.

Jing came around at about 10am and off we went. There’s no doubt about it that we pushed harder this time around than last. I even did one of the early drop offs instead of going around it like most people do. Sometimes too cocky isn’t that great though and I had a couple of falls. One in the mud, one over the handlebars near the big 6ft drop (which I doubt I’ll ever do).

All in all, a lot of fun, it’s a great trail! More pics here.

Yup I’m 33 today. Celebration? Nope, happy with life? Very much so. :) All good!

New Chris King headset is on, waiting for KCNC seatpost now and it’s all done.

Here’s the damage, scary how it all adds up!!!

1997 Specialized Hardrock GX
——————————————
Brake Lever: Shimano XTR lever (83g) $54.50
Brake: Avid BB7 (454g) $100
–Alligator Disc Rotor 160mm + bolts (218g) $47.95
–A2Z disc brake convertor (100g) $28
Cables: XTR/Alligator(105g) $30
Cassette: Fire Eye single speed spacers (60g) $50
–Chris King 16 Tooth Cog, Stainless Steel (32g) $45.35
Chain: KMC SuperLite X9SL Hollow Pin (211g) $48.22
Crankset: Shimano Hone Crankset/bb (802g) $146
Fork: SASO carbon fork (815g) $173
Frame: Specialized Hardrock GX Chro-mo (2600g)
Grips: Ritchey 2008 WCS Grips (39g) $16
Handlebar: On-one Mary (313g) $60
Headset: Chris King 1-1/8 (124g) $125.85
Headset Spacer: Amoeba carbon spacer (8g) $6
Pedals: VP 196 pedals (280g) $28.30
Quick Releases: Trans X bolt on skewers (66g) $8.50
Seat Binder: Tranz X seatpost bolt (14g) $12.90
Seat: Selle Italia SLR Flite Kit Carbonio (169g) $100
Seatpost: FSA SL-K carbon seatpost (227g) $41
–Seatpost shim (12g) $8.50
Stem: Syntace Stem (98g) $42.80
Tyre: Maxlite 310 (311g x 2) $99
Tubes: Maxxis flyweight x 2 (93g/tube) $18.80
Wheelset: FSA XC-300 SL (1872g) $300
—————————————–
Total Cost: $1590.67
Total Weight: 9.56kg

Some parcels made their way into my mail box. Namely a Chris King headset (in black this time, much better) and some very lightweight Alligator Rotors.

I’m in love again, with the Sandon. What an awesome 5 nights away. Photos here

3 more hours and I’m off to Sandon River. I’m excitedness!