Dirt bikes

Yeah, about that...

 

Hell I still can’t re-find half of that stuff without a guide. And I’ve been there a dozen + times.

That and it’s almost a 5 hour round trip to there for me.

 

No worries. Just bustin on ya.

A couple of hours this afternoon

 

3rd place, VCHSS Round#12, 40+B

 

Since we were discussing lighting, here is a vid of testing some lights up in the mountains of western WA in prep for a 24hr race. Nothing balls to the wall but you can get some idea for how a bike light combined with helmet lights works out. I definitely like having both. I'm using the Task helmet lights and cyclops 630 bar. The video is of Cyclops helmet lights and their 630 bar.

 

Those lights look too "spot" oriented for that terrain.

 

Nope. Cameras and eyes aren't the same.

"The 630 is a combo beam pattern with 2X 25 degree beams at each end of the light bar and 4X 10 degree beams in the center. Great distance and good field of view."

I think the camera settings just pick up the center way more.

 

Gotcha.

 

Good video. Most likely I will end up with a bar light as well. I’m going to test the lights out soon. Hopefully 2 weeks I’ll be back up in the mountains. There’s no real single track like that down here so I think the helmet lights will sufficient for now but in the long term I’ll need to get either a bar or do the task setup with the 3 Baja design lights and their fork mounts. We’ll see.


Another side note is that I tried on the new Alpinestars helmet and I REALLY want one now. The comfort level was amazing, it was light and it has provisions for hydration that don’t require drilling into the front vent like I had to do on my bell. My bell has taken a beating over the last two years but hasn’t taken any direct impacts. The visor was flapping in the wind last time because the right screw fell out. But it’ll be a bit before I can drop $550 on a new helmet.

 

I dug the A* lid as well but ultimately went with the Leatt 6.5 for the reasons of hydration, weight and neck brace compatibility. I think they are on steep discounts now.

 

Good to know. I’ll check them out I run the leatt hydration on my A* neck brace for when I race. I wear a small Coleman Max backpack with a camel pack in it for back country. It can hold my batteries for the task lights which is cool. I haven’t found a solution for a camel pack with good volume and being able to comfortably wear my neck brace yet.

 

Unless it is beaucoup hot I really like the ogio flight vest. It distributes the weight better than my Klim enduro pack and makes things in the front accessible.

 

I lied. The 1 liter pack on the back of the neck brace is a USWE. I just went and checked.

I wear an A* bionic action jacket under my jersey and unzip the elbow/forearm protection because it makes my “tennis elbow” flare up really bad. So I think the flight vest is out.

I want tech 10 boots and a knee brace set soon too. But my Sidi’s are doing the job just fine.

My biggest thing now is going to be new wheels. Front and back both have bad flat spots. Not sure what I’m going to do, a talon wheel set with billet hubs starts at $805 but I’ve never used that stuff. I need to do more research. Anyone have input on good wheel sets? That’s my next *big* purchase for this bike. Suspension is going to wait until end of April when I’m back in NY for two weeks.

 

We're going to run warp9 on the 650Rs for the Mexican 1000 for at least part of the course. The prices are decent, too.

 

Hatfield McCoy is the best place ever.

 

Are you guys racing it this year?? I’ve wanted to Ironman it pretty bad the last 3 years or so but I just never feel prepared enough to do it. Slow, out of shape and lingering injuries. I’ve got more excuses if anyone needs them.

 

Yes, the NORRA Mexican 1k, not the SCORE Baja 1k just to be clear. I'm actually really looking forward to NOT ironmaning it. As one of our team pointed out, "it's 1300 miles, which is the distance from Seattle to Ensenada".

 

NORRA 500 is two 250 mile stints. That’s what I wanted to run. I know a guy who did an Ironman on an old ass triumph a couple years in a row. Just would be cool to finish. But I would need a good crew and to be in hell of shape.

 

We're riding Bear Wallow today, conditions were good yesterday.

 

I have to dig up some pics. I haven't been there in 15 years.