Farewell To An Old Friend

It is with a tear in my eye that I have finally said farewell to an old friend, my first Independent Fabrication. This ti deluxe was, at that time, built to be the ultimate 100 mile wrist snapping race machine. Knowing that La Ruta was in the cards she was set up to run full rigid single, 1x9 or fully geared and with front suspension and over the course of her life she was raced in all forms. First making the rounds of the East Coast 100s as a single, then off to La Ruta as a 1x9 and finally in full rigid single speed configuration for the Cape Epic where she became the first single speed to ever enter let alone finish this 8 day epic. There was one more season as a single speed before my eyes strayed and fell in love with a babe with a pair of 29ers.
Putting her in good hands was a primary concern and in stepped Footie taking ownership just 9 days before heading the the Cape Epic where she completed her second go at the plains and mountains of South Africa. Well the good times will not be forgotten and no doubt she and I will cross paths in the not to distant future but for now it is time to await the arrival of the newest arrow in my quiver - a Lefty steel deluxe single speed.

"Beth" at the finish of the 2007 Cape Epic

Breaking News - Hawaiian Mike Davidson Source Reported to be Katie "The Cougar"

Recently on the Darkhorse Racing blog there has been a spat of "interviews" conducted by Hawaiian Mike Davidson on behalf of the team. All of us on the team have been in awe in Mike's uncanny ability to uncover breaking news stories long before even members of the team have the inside scoop.
Well a friend over at the Smoking Gun filled us in on just how he is getting the scoop - seems Mike's studly physique has caught the eye of none other then the original cougar, Katie Couric, and she has been spoon feeding these tidbits to Mike in exchange for a bit of young boy love. At a recent luncheon this Sunday at Trump Towers (now we know why Mike missed yet another ride for "Cub Scouts aka Cougar Scouts") seems the lovefest might have come to an end as you can see from Katie's look.

Apparently there were words exchanged and it went something like this -

KC - purrrrrrr those love handles are getting me hot

HF - Hey get your hands off my doughnuts

KC - I'll put my hands on whatever nuts I want and if you don't shape up yours are going in a jar on the mantle with all the other sets I have ripped off of men's bodies

Right after this the lights went out, there was a lot of screaming and a couple of gun shots. Hawaiian Mike was seen stumbing out of Trump Towers and heading for the Metropolitian Opera to try out for the lead tenor slot

Singlespeed-a-Palooza Number Plates

In the interest of all the recent green initiatives we here at the NECS/Darkhorse Racing Cycles have come up with a new, greener number plate for the Singlespeed-a-Palooza. This test model does not have all the details (racer number and picture) but we are searching the dumps of Stewart to find the nastiest, dirtiest thongs (Pleasure Island, our local flesh factory, has been able to provide the greatest quantity of number plates.) For this race Johns will be linked to customer thongs and beers at the halfway point are mandatory.
Anyhow this beauty was test run over the length of the course with Sal's only comment "it was a bit snug fitting, can you get me a large".

Summer of Love

Well loyal fans (Nico/Casey where have you been?) this weekend finally saw and end to the winter time blues and the sub 30 degree single speed rides. Here at the NECS when the seasons change it comes in like the hot kiss at the end of a wet fist and this weekend we saw temps sitting a full 50 degrees above last weekends trash fest with ideal riding in the upper 80s.
With conditions like these there was no doubt that the troops would be out in full force. with some even being lured to the site with promises of early morning C-Dubs power snacks! But to no avail those in the know didn't show, Top Chef was still too bloated from the recent hernia surgery, and of course Hawaiian Mike was in rare winter training form as seem from this top secret shot.

Never one to miss a ride, the Mayor, despite severe respritory aliments, managed to procure a Sunday pass from the State TB Ward (with backup documentation confirming it was not a case of the Swine Flu) and was able to hack up a lung cookie or two during the ride.

And just to reassure all that the new world order is still intact the Mayor showed his uncanny ability to call the shots out on the course, even from the back of the pack. As a result of this we all had to be on the look out for Tom/Sven/Ingamar/Pedro Rossi whose favorite past time is to lurk back and wait for the waterhole before coming in full bore and giving someone (usually C-Dubs) the big mud shower.

Well this weekend, despite having some patented C-Dubs power bars before the ride, I was able to keep the old fart at bay for most of the ride and it wasn't until he sprinted ahead on the fireroad that the payback came. With Rossi a 100 yards up the road the Mayor made the call "RIGHT" and off we went into Skip & Bill's, another sweet section of single track with a nice bridge. With Aikido like skills I dumped the bike and found the largest, flattest rock so when Rossi came to the bridge it was in mid flight and hit in a manner that put up a geyser similar to this.

Needless to say Rossi was a bit wet and in good humor over the entire prank - but at what cost to me in Moab I have to ask?
Finally back in the parking lot while having our fourth round of double IPAs, we were wondering about our ability to navigate our way home. Right about this time Sal whipped up the shirt and noted that he always keeps a map of the home state handy for just such an emergency. The only question we all had is where is the star showing the exit you live at - a major faux pau when tattooing your home state on the body.

Curb Your Appetite

To ensure that all guests at Casa de C-Dubs do not suffer the same fate as Top Chef (face down on the couch at 2 am with the bib shorts still on) we have decided to issue these Hannibal Wurster masks to limit the intake of fine wine and recovery bars.

Stewart State Forest Gives Up Her Dead

When one is presented with the opportunity to use 6000+ acres of state forest for riding and to have virtually no restrictions on adding new trails at will, you like to make sure the mountain bike community is doing it's part to maintain this slice of Nirvana.
This past Sunday was designated by the DEC as clean up day for the state forest. Aarmed with our beat up pickups, propane grill, meat and of course copious amounts of the finest yeasty malted beverages, the NECS & Darkhorse Cycles race team set off on a mission to clean the trails.
What we learned from this archiealogical expedition is the following - hunters like beer, lots of beer, and they seem to favor the mini Budweiser bottles and an occasional Old Style. The mountain bikers seem to lean towards Corona and Sam Adams and the horsey set, well there we the occasional single malt bottles turning up. The mother lode of the entire expedition came at the Game Warden's station, so either the state employees like to eat chinese food and drink cheap beer or the hunters are really a bunch of pigs. Either way we cleaned the place up and in the end found this real kick ass fixie (with yours truly taking it for a test spin) that is potentially the grand prize for the Singlespeed-a-Palooza.

Ferrari Formula 1 Linked to Moab Race Effort

With the recent technology limits and budget caps being put in place to hold down the spiraling costs of competing in Formula One, Ferrari has has graciously offered to throw the full weight of their R&D department behind the 24 Hours of Moab effort.
Rumors from the F1 paddock are that Ferrari's head Luca de Montezemolo, a big fan of the Snuggie, upon seeing the ad campaign, immediately committed all excess capacity at the factory to help with the development of Mike Davidson's fixie.
Fearing the imbalance that could occur in cornering with one pony keg empty and the other full and Mike's ability to maintain balance when totally in the bag, Ferrari opted for the single full keg set up to optimize handling. To aide in faster lap times Ferrari's recently developed KERS (kinetic energy recovery system) will be employed, making use of energy created during braking (and Mike breaking wind) to keep the keg properly pressurized for optimal flow. Calculations from the engineers shows that Mike can save over 8 minutes per lap by not having to pump up the keg. This new super secret ride will be undergoing it's first test at Stewart on Easter Sunday.