3 things you should check out...

1. TWO by TEN mtb gearing. You can get it from Sram (they're all-in with 2x10 options at 4 levels). You can get it from Shimano (if you feel like rocking das XTR. You can even get some rings to retro fit it. But if you like to ride in the dirt. it's the way to go: simple, full use of gears, lighter, less chain slap.Check it out now. You can high five me later.

2. Danny MacAkill's new video. I just love those backwards manuals and nose wheelies. True story - I have reoccuring dreams about have mad wheelie skills. I wake up from these dreams with the same feeling I had as a kid - when I'd wake up from a dream realizing that I couldn't play with the GI Joe of Transformer that I just dreamed about.


3. Sleigh Bells. If you listened to the new MIA album, you may recognize some beats. I love how much sound can come out of two people.

Random thoughts on the single track

Did a great ride on Boulder County's best trails on Saturday. Here are some of the things that went through my mind (in no particular order):

• idea for a new event: have a bunch of folks race from point A to point B and back. The time is recorded. Then they drink beers. They get 10 minutes taken off their time for every beer they drink. They they do the drunken bike obstacle course. For every time their foot touches or the bike goes off course, they get their overall time multiplied. What to call it? My mind wandered before the name came to me
• I saved the life of a small rattlesnake on the trail.  It was about 12 inches long. I tried to push it with my wheel, but it wasn't going for it. So a fellow rider held my bike while a found a stick. I used the stick to fling the snake about 50' off the trail. Less sun there, but also less threat of vertebrae breaking mountain bikers. I wondered why people feel they they should kill snakes when they see them. I know they pose a danger, but so do cars (even more so). You don't see people destroying cars when they ride.
• While listening to my ipod, Metallica's cover of 'Last Caress' (originally by the Misfits). The lyric, "I've got something to say - I killed your baby today" idn't seem as amusing as they used to - now that I'm less than a month away from being a Dad. Still love how the melody of the song makes me joyfully whistle despite the message.
• On the topic of Metallica, I came across the album, Garage Days Re-Revisted. It's so awesome when you can re-find an album that sounds better than ever before. The songs on this album are so good, it's no wonder that they released it as an EP. Sometimes it's about quality not quantity (did you hear that Kings of Leon?)
• There were so many people on the trail that I wondered if there were some sort of Batman 'bat-shadow on the moon' signal that I missed. Then I thought - just like me - it must be the 75 degees in November signal that called everybody out. Aha.
• Listening to the MGMT song Congratulations, I wondered if fame and money cause people to hire others to do ordinary tasks not because they are too busy with important celebrity stuff, but rather they simply have enough money to pay other people to do it. I'm sure SOME people make better use of their time when they hire others, but mostly it allows people to be lazy. But then maybe instead of lazy, they are allowing their celebrity brains to recharge so they can impress us with another fantastic project.
• Full suspension bikes are just so incredible. I was riding a Specialized Stumpy FSR Carbon Pro and it was awesome. Faster, more comfortable, and so much more capable. I know this for a fact since the day before a rode a 29er hardtail. It was nowhere near as fun. I tend to agree with Zach's conclusions in this article.

Riding is a great way to let the brain loose. I've had some of my best epiphanies on a bike (thoughts above not included)